How to find your true love
by FluffyBookwurm
Summary: In the summer before his 7th and last year at Hogwarts starts, Draco decides that this year he is finally going to what he's been wanting to do for a long time.... Slash! DMHP
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note**: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

All his life he'd followed his father's directions.

All his life he'd believed that the world indeed was black and white.

No greys in between.

Then his father got arrested and sent to Azakaban.

Nothing better than that to make you rethink your lifelong beliefs.

And that rethinking brought him to some staggering places.

Going to Hogwarts had meant a lot to him. After all, he was a Malfoy and he would be one of the important ones from his year. Or so his father had told him. But, as he got off the boat and stood in the hallway waiting for the Sorting Hat to get on with the programme and put him in Slytherin (no sorting needed when you're a Malfoy, thank you very much!), it turned out that that wasn't exactly true. There was another new student who got all the glory: Harry Potter. Potter wouldn't be his friend; Potter had turned down his gracious offer of friendship and guidance. He had chosen a Weasley over him, and then later, a mudblood, Granger. And on top of all that, Potter had turned out to be aces at Quidditch.

Draco spent the first years at Hogwarts loathing Harry Potter. Then, one year, he didn't know which, but it could've been after the TriWizard Tournament, his feelings had started to change. After a while he no longer seemed to mind so much when Potter got a break. Eventually he even started to look forward to the classes he shared with the Gryffindor and the Slytherin/Gryffindor Quidditch matches. And then he started looking forward to…seeing him.

After Draco declined to take the Dark Mark, he'd changed his behaviour as well. He stopped insulting the Weasel and Granger as much as before, and he even started being polite to Potter. Actually, he was so overly polite that people thought that he was up to something. He wasn't, it was just his way of being more civil. Draco hoped he'd kept up appearances, but he wasn't sure whether he'd succeeded. He'd gotten some strange looks from both Blaise and Pansy.

He had also slowly started to get interested in Muggle things, even if only to annoy his father in Azkaban. He'd seen some Muggle things lying around the library or the Great Hall and slowly he grew interested in them. To annoy his father, he picked up this new "hobby" with a vengeance. His ultimate act was to get a subscription to a new magazine called "Wizards in Muggle land". The magazine explained Muggle things and also had features one would find in a regular Muggle magazine. He loved it.

All of this went through his head while he was packing his things to go to Hogwarts to start his 7th and last year there. It was with mixed feelings that he looked back at the last year and thought about the choices he had made.

He'd decided he didn't want to serve Lord Voldemort. That had given him problems within Slytherin, and cost him the company of people he had thought of as friends. Some had stayed loyal, especially Blaise and Pansy and he was happy to be around them.

Consequently, he'd decided that he wanted to fight for the light. That decision had come much later and the only people who knew were Dumbledore and his mother. She hadn't been as surprised as he'd imagined.

Of course, he'd kept his other big surprise from her. He wasn't ready to tell her yet. He hadn't been ready to confess it to himself until halfway through last year.

He was gay.

He was in love with a boy.

He was in love with Harry Potter.

That had been a major shock.

That had also been the moment that he'd decided to subscribe to the Muggle magazine and he'd even ordered a magically enhanced "radio" so that he could listen to Muggle music. He was still waiting for the radio to arrive so that he could take it with him to Hogwarts. Being a Prefect did have its advantages, especially having his own room.

Since August, the magazine had run a small column: i How To Find Your True Love /i . Upon reading the title all he could see was Harry Potter's face. He read on.

Each issue a new column would offer one tip that would help you get closer to your goal: finding your true love. Draco conveniently striked the words with his quill and instead wrote: "How to become Harry Potter's boyfriend."

Draco had been thinking about his approach a great deal. It wasn't, after all, as though he could just walk up to Potter, corner him in a hallway and say "Look Potter, I'm gay and I think you are too. I can't get you out of my head so how about you and me, Hogsmeade, next weekend?"

And why not? Because:

1) It would send Hogwarts into a frenzy

2) It would send Blaise and Pansy into a frenzy

3) It would send the Weasel and Granger into a frenzy

4) He's Harry Potter

Come to think of it, he didn't mind numbers 1 and 4, but 2 and 3 were an entirely different matter. He'd like to keep the few friends he had left. So that would mean telling them first. He could do that the first night at Hogwarts, so that that would be cleared.

But The Weasel and Granger…now that was an entirely different enterprise. Normally he wouldn't mind ruffling Gryffindor feathers, but he had already decided that if he wanted to seriously woo Harry Potter, that would mean getting along with The Weasel and Granger. Damn. He had to be honest. He never had given them a chance just because Granger was a mudblood and Weasel…well Weasel was a Weasley. Draco hadn't needed any other excuse.

But as last year got underway, he finally understood something he hadn't before.

As all his so-called friends left him, he came to value the meaning of friendship. Those three had been friends since first year. Of course their friendship had sometimes been shaky, but in the end they had always stuck together, whereas his "friends" had left him.

So, the column seemed like a good idea. He could use any and every piece of advice that he could get! Luckily the writer of the column also had a Letters section where readers could write in and have questions answered. Good, he might get some extra information from those as well, or when he was really desperate – although, Malfoys and desperate? – he could write a letter to the magazine. Anonymous of course. Malfoys have a reputation to protect.

The first column read as follows:

**Make New Friends**

_If your social circle hasn't yet provided you with the connection you're hoping to make, it could be time to broaden the circle, or step outside it. Ask your friends to introduce you to their friends, introduce yourself to the person on the next mat at your yoga class or in the morning latté line. Start accepting invitations to concerts and picnics, even if your regular crowd won't be there. Invite friends of friends to your next New Year's Eve bash. Cast a wider net. You might be delighted to find something, or someone, new and interesting in it._

That's when the idea struck him. He shivered when he thought it properly through, but then decided that there was just no other way. He'd write to the Weasel and Granger. He'd apologise for the past and would explain that he wanted to be friends.

All he now hesitated about was whether or not to mention that he was head over broomstick in love with their best friend and would be wooing him this school year. After thinking it over all day, he finally decided that there just wasn't any other way. The letters he wrote them were quite similar:

_Granger / Weasley,_

_No doubt you'll find it strange to receive an owl from me, but I can assure you that I find it equally strange to be writing one to you._

_The reason I write this is to apologise for the things that were said and done in the past._

_Since my father has been an inmate at Azkaban, I've done quite a lot of thinking and I've decided that I do not want to be like him._

_Please accept this letter as a first step. Maybe we can be friends, but if not that, then I hope that we can at least be civil when in each other's company._

_Especially since I am madly in love with Harry Potter and will be wooing him this schoolyear._

_Regards,_

_Draco Malfoy_

He looked them over. He couldn't help but surpress a grin when reading that last sentence. At least now he'd be sure to get at least one of them to respond. He'd bet that Granger would want him to prove it first. Weasley would probably send him a Howler.

Oh well...the price he was willing to pay for love.

He sighed, staring dreamily into nothing, when suddenly he snapped out of it. What was he doing? He wasn't even sure if they'd help him or not and besides that, if Potter was gay as well and would even consider going out with him- He suddenly calmed. Since he didn't see another way, he went on as planned.

After sending the letters off he got undressed and went to sleep.

3 weeks later

As expected, Weasley's letter had been filled with disbelief, but thankfully hadn't been a Howler.

_Malfoy,_

_Quite frankly, I don't believe a word you say. No doubt this is some sick joke, meant to cause more harm than good._

_Madly in love with Harry????? Again, hard to believe and therefore in need of proof… We'll talk after I've seen it._

_In the meanwhile I'll think about it._

_Ron Weasley_

Granger's letter had a totally different tone

_Malfoy,_

_You'll excuse me that I don't immediately believe all that you've said. I do believe however, that having your father sent to Azkaban will make you start to think about your future. If you truly mean it, I'll accept your apologies. Let's just take things from there and not get ahead of ourselves._

_You, madly in love with Harry? Hmm that would explain all those stares from you during the last half year at Hogwarts. I was wondering about that. I do hope that you are sincere in your feelings, Malfoy, because if you're not, I'll hex you to the ends of the earth._

_We'll see you on the train I take it. If you are serious, I'd like to see some proof of it._

_Regards,_

_Hermione Granger_

Draco was most surprised by Granger's letter. He hadn't expected his apologies to be accepted that easily. Then again, that showed what he'd discovered last year: Things weren't the way his father had always been telling him. Well, he'd started thinking for himself. Now he would see where that would take him.

He decided to write them back right away.

_Weasley,_

_Quite frankly, I don't really care what you think. However, I can tell you that this is no joke._

_You want proof of my feelings for Harry? How about: I think he has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. I LIKE his messy hair (yes, this came as a shock to me too)! I even sort of don't mind it so much anymore when he beats me at Quidditch (although, if you repeat that to anyone except Granger and Harry (after I've talked to him) you will regret it! I'll deny everything!_

_Fine, I'll see you on the train then._

_Draco Malfoy_

His letter to Granger was a better one to write.

_Granger,_

_What is it with you Gryffindors and wanting proof? Ok, I'll tell you exactly what I told Weasley._

_How about: I think he has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. I LIKE his messy hair (yes, this came as a shock to me too)! I even sort of don't mind it so much anymore when he beats me at Quidditch (although, if you repeat this to anyone except Weasley and Harry (after I've talked to him) you will regret it!. I'll deny everything._

_The threat goes for you too, by the way. Other proof will have to wait until we're at Hogwarts again._

_You saw me looking at him? Well, yes, I have been doing that. A lot._

_I hope to hear from you regarding your help._

_Regards,_

_Draco Malfoy_

He sent them both off with his grey, eagle owl, in anticipation of their reactions.

* * *

Please Read & Review!

Feedback is appreciated, Flames are not. If you haven't got anything useful to say, please don't bother…

Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat – 


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note**: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!

* * *

**Chapter 2 **

Only two weeks remained before the train would leave, starting Draco on his seventh, and final, year at Hogwarts. Despite his training ("Malfoys simply don't do sentimentality, Draco," his father had told him over and over again), he did feel a sense of loss. He shook his head. Although he had decided to change, he still had trouble of distancing himself from his father's teachings. All in all, this would be a tough year.

In the midst of his musings, an owl tapped on the glass of his window. He recognised the owl as the one that brought his magazine. He let her in, gave her something to eat and drink, let her out again and took his magazine to his favourite chair. Instead of starting at the beginning, he flipped right to the column.

**Make a Plan** – _When you're organising a work project, going on a budget or a diet or dreaming up a vacation, the first step is to make a plan. One must figure out where one hopes to end up and what milestones need to be attained during the journey. How long each one will take to reach? To make sure you're looking for love in all the right places, and exposing yourself to all the right faces in just the right place(s), make use of those sharp organizing skills of yours. Each month, set realistic goals: meet two new people and go on one date. Then list, and pursue, the places and people that might lead you to the fulfillment of your goals'._

Hmmm, good idea, he thought. Writing those letters to Weasley and Granger had been a rather out-of-the-blue action. One that worked out quite well, given their history and all, but still, it could just as easily have backfired on him. So...he needed a plan.. He took a piece of parchment and wrote down what he could think of so far.

_Plan to make Harry Potter my boyfriend by the end of 7th year Hogwarts:_

_1. Become more friendly with Weasley and Granger – I stand no chance otherwise_

_2. Become more friendly with Potter himself – this will mean less arguing/ fighting and more flirting_

_2.1 I could offer to help him with his Potion's homework_

_2.2 I could ask him to help me with my DADA homework – wait that'll never happen, he won't trust me………… Transfiguration!! He could help me with Transfiguration!_

_3. When friendship is established (Make definition of friendship later) start helping him, defending him etc._

_So it'll be a work in progress_, he thought as he looking at the sheet. He'd keep at it whilst working on his big project...He then went and started to read the rest of his magazine.

In the evening, he did what he'd been doing every evening for the last couple of weeks: He dreamt about how it would be to finally tell Harry – in his mind it was already Harry, no more Potter – how he felt. Every time he did that though, his happy feeling was cut short by the thought of Harry telling him to sod off.

At that moment he heard a tapping against his window: It was an owl delivering a letter.

The letter was from Granger. Great!

_Malfoy,_

_Have thought it over._

_Provided that you are indeed serious about the whole thing, have not become a Death Eater (I am afraid that that is one of the main requirements) and are really willing to give this a try, I might be willing to help you._

_It depends on you whether or not that will happen. Don't forget: I can make or break your relationship with Harry._

_Regards,_

_Hermione Granger_

Great. Just great. He was, however, a bit more optimistic about the whole endeavour. If Granger was willing to help out, he had an even bigger chance of getting what he wanted. He had to write her back. Right away.

_Granger, (Draco began, before charming the parchment clear and beginning again with "Hermione,")_

_Yes, I am serious. I have been in love with Harry for the past two years. Trust me; it doesn't get any more serious than that. Have you any idea how hard it has been to keep this from my father? However, he's in Azkaban and my feelings aren't changing – they are only getting worse (a good worse that is). So I've decided to go with it, this last year._

_And no, I have not become a Death Eater. Having your father in Azkaban kind of takes the motor behind that little project away, doesn't it?_

_Kindly tell me whether or not I have your help._

_Regards,_

_Draco Malfoy_

With a sigh he sent his owl, Kleopatra, to deliver the letter.

Draco had already started to think about how he would spread the word that he was gay.

He wanted it done tastefully, but in a way that everyone would know. He was considering combining that announcement with the one about him having it bad for Harry Potter. He worried that that might be overdoing it. He decided to wait for Granger's answer and then ask her. Maybe she had some ideas for how to go about it. He shuddered. He was thinking about her as a potential friend! He shuddered again.

The weeks passed quickly, as last weeks always do, and suddenly it was the night before Draco had to leave for Hogwarts. As he was checking his trunk one last time he let his mind wander.

These last weeks he'd received one more letter from both Weasley and Granger. They had decided that meeting in person would be more effective in showing that Draco had indeed changed. Suddenly he froze on the spot where he stood. Tomorrow he would meet with the Weasel… no hang on…. Weasley and Granger. And that meant meeting with Harry Potter too!!!

He had been practising on calling him Harry in his mind. He had thought that he could offer a truce by calling him Harry and asking Harry to call him Draco. Of course, he'd have to ask the same of Weasley and Granger. Bugger. Oh well, all for the greater good……..

* * *

Please Read & Review!

Feedback is appreciated, Flames are not. If you haven't got anything useful to say, please don't bother…

Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat – 


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note**: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betasTip and Keikokin!

* * *

**Chapter 3 **

Harry heaved a deep sigh – inwardly – while trying to look like he was trying to give the impression that he was listening to Aunt Petunia's speech. He didn't want to be here in the kitchen, washing the Dursley's dishes. He wanted to pack his trunk and think about his final year at Hogwarts.

Deep inside he knew he didn't want to go back to Hogwarts at this point. Although, if he had to choose between staying at the Dursley's and going to Hogwarts, the choice would be easy enough. But still...he'd rather not go to school this year. Harry didn't want to think about where he would go after graduation. Every year since he had started school, his hopes of staying someplace other than Privet Drive were crushed. He didn't think he'd get that chance when he finished Hogwarts either. Why would he be allowed to stay somewhere else? He wasn't allowed to do so during summer breaks so he couldn't imagine Dumbledore agreeing or even approving of him not going to the Dursley's after graduation.

He'd tried not to show it to anybody. His so-called family, the Dursleys, certainly never noticed it. Ron and Hermione had both asked what was wrong with him in various letters. Harry hoped they hadn't noticed that he wasn't answering those questions. He also had to be especially careful around a keenly insightful werewolf who had almost guessed what exactly was nagging him. He actually i didn't /i want to keep this from Remus but he also didn't want to bother the haggard man whilst he was engaged on so many important missions for the Order. Besides, Remus was still mourning Sirius and Harry didn't want to add to the older man's troubles.

Harry focussed on his aunt again. He was relieved to notice that she had stopped her rant. He quickly finished all of his chores and finally began to get packed for school. He checked his trunk, his room and the cupboard under the stairs, to be was certain that he had all of his things and thought about everything that had happened since Hagrid had introduced him to the wizarding world. Mostly he thought about all the people that he had met, both friends and foes. He realized that a lot of his thoughts centered about a very sexy platinum blond boy – young man – Harry corrected himself.

"Now why would I think Malfoy is sexy?" Harry whispered to himself, confused. He never thought about girls, but that hadn't concerned him nearly as much as it had Ron, who was thinking of girls and especially Hermione, virtually without pause. It was also the first time he had thought that way about a boy. He never would have suspected that he'd be more interested in men than women.

Harry had to think about it more carefully before he drew conclusions, though, that was for sure. He'd also consider what to tell Remus, Ron and Hermione – or even if he should tell them at all.

It hadn't crossed his mind that his friends, Remus included, had already guessed that he was more focussed on men than women.

At last he had what little he possessed locked in his trunk and Hedwig in her cage. His aunt and uncle had promised to drive him to the train station as Dudley was on some sort of Smeltings Summer outing.

"Boy!" he heard his uncle yell "Get your lazy arse downstairs and put your evil things in the car. We're going to that damn train station to drop you off, hopefully for the last time, and we certainly hope to never see you again after that. So come here, you good for nothing!"

Just for a minute Harry tried to imagine what would happen if he didn't do what his uncle told him to. But he actually had no interest in finding out. What if he got locked up in the cupboard again? Although he was now seventeen, and not terribly tall, it would still be quite difficult to fit in the cupboard now, 'Best be going then,' he thought to himself.

Harry guessed that his uncle and aunt thought it funny to call him all sorts of names during the drive to the train station, but they didn't leave it at that. Oh no, he wasn't that lucky. They also made fun of his parents. Normally, which is to say, in previous years that would have made Harry explode with rage. It still hurt, but he had matured enough that he was able to keep silent until he got through the barrier at King's Cross Station.

He didn't allow himself to hope though. Hexing his family to hell was certainly high on his priority list, but not a good thing if he wanted to live somewhere else – the Dursleys knew the worst torture they could concoct for Harry would be to make him stay with them. Although it i would /i be good therapy, it would not be appreciated. Not by Professor Dumbledore, not by the rest of the Hogwarts Staff and certainly not by the Ministry of Magic. Remus might be the only one who would appreciate the reasons that would drive Harry to do it. So he braced himself and tried to think positive thoughts.

It didn't work.

"Ok," he thought "Maybe it works if I think about all the things I could do to the Dursleys if I could get away with it," a distinctly Malfoy smirk, albeit a very small one, appeared on his face as his eyes began to glitter with the inner fire of mischief.

When they arrived at the train station he was actually disappointed. He hadn't even gotten a chance to be **really** creative about the hexes and curses he was considering for use on the Dursleys. "Well, I never have been very lucky, so why did I think I was going to get a break today?" His aunt and uncle barely allowed him enough time to get his trunk from the boot and pull Hedwig's cage from the back seat. He had just closed the door when Uncle Vernon started the car and drove away like there was an army of devils, no, more like an army of Weasleys, Harry snickered, behind him.

A minute later the black haired boy in his too large clothes couldn't even see them anymore. Harry hoped that this had been the last time he saw them for the rest of his life. He put his things on a cart and entered the train station with over an hour until the train would leave to Hogwarts. What to do?

He didn't feel like waiting on Platform 9 ¾ because he would see his fellow Gryffindors and, frankly, he simply didn't want to see them yet. "Correction, I don't want to see Hermione and Ron yet." Harry thought.

In fact, as he thought about all of his classmates, he couldn't wait to see some of them; like Neville, for instance. He was sure Neville still had more surprises in store for everyone. Neville had changed a lot since his first year: He was no longer that shy, rather stocky boy with the stutter. He was now more confident of himself. He was still not going to draw everyone's attention but he possessed knowledge that other people lacked, such as herbology. And Neville had earned, without question, his place among the other Gryffindors.

He continued to think about his dormmates. Seamus, Dean and Ron were quite opposite from Neville. Seamus was the most extroverted person Harry had ever met. Dean might have been quieter than his best friend, but you couldn't say that he was shy or introverted either, he just wasn't as overly enthusiastic as Finnigan. Ron, meanwhile, was a typical red head, which meant that he was volatile in his manner and actions and quick with his mouth as well. That is to say, he didn't always think before he spoke. That had put him, and Hermione and Harry as well, into some awkward and difficult situations.

Thinking about his dorm mates made Harry realize that he was in no mood to interact with any of them. Just the thought of meeting an exuberant Seamus Finnigan was enough to get on his nerves. To avoid them all, he decided to wait on the muggle part of the train station.

He started walking around the muggle area with all of its the shops. There was a lot to see, and for the next 45 minutes Harry was happy to do some window-shopping. He especially enjoyed the sweets shop and found the booksellers fascinating. While strolling about, he thought about the train ride to Hogwarts. Again he realized that he was not eager to meet everyone. He would be very pleased simply to travel up to Hogwarts by himself. He sighed, understanding the impossibility of that, given his situation: sans charmed car or any other means of magical transportation.

Harry thought back over the summer, comparing it to previous years. This summer had provided absolutely nothing by comparison. Well, apart from all the "fun" at Privet Drive, of course. He wondered why Ron and Hermione had almost forgotten to write him. He could count the letters he got from them on one hand. He could clearly remember summers in which he had almost no time to read one letter before another letter arrived. The more he thought about it the more he felt depressed. Didn't they want to be his friends any more?

And Remus…he had sent letters to Harry but it felt as though his heart wasn't into it. Harry could certainly understand. Remus was obviously still hurt over losing Sirius, but Harry really hoped that Remus wasn't encountering bad omens. The thought of losing Remus, Ron or Hermione sent shivers down his spine.

On the other hand, Harry was somewhat cheered by the little flame of hope inside that this year he would finally fall in love. Really fall in love. That fling with Cho was just that: A fling - nothing more, nothing less. He also knew that there had to be more to romance. Cho wasn't making him feel the way that he i knew /i love would make him feel.

He ached for somebody who would be there for him – always. Harry knew that Hermione, Ron and Remus would be there for him too, or at least he hoped they still would be, but Harry expected that from friendship. It was a different thing entirely from what he wanted in a lover.

Sighing, Harry looked at his watch and noticed that the train was leaving in 15 minutes. 'I better go to the platform now. I don't want to be late and miss the damn train,' Harry thought to himself.

Carefully he looked around: No muggles were watching him. He quickly made his way to Platform 9 ¾, thinking, amidst the noise and bustle, that he was glad he had waited outside for a while.

"Alright Harry? Good summer, Mate?" a familiar voice broke through Harry's thoughts. He turned around to see a far too cheerful Dean Thomas. Harry didn't have a chance to answer the question as Dean immediately started to babble. "I am SO glad that summer is over and we're off to Hogwarts again. I missed it, you know. I missed it a lot. Oh boy, who am I kidding? I missed Seamus. I really, really missed him. Did you know that we've officially been together for a year? One year! Can you believe it? We had our "anniversary" on the 7th of July. Pity we couldn't be together. I don't think our parents will be pleased when they receive the telephone bill from that month. We have something special planned for our first Hogsmeade weekend to make up for the not being together on our BIG day. I just can't wait to see Seamus again."

If Harry hadn't been feeling so depressed, he would have laughed at himself. Here he was at the platform, after avoiding it for the past 45 minutes because he couldn't bare the thought of Seamus' cheerfulness, and now here he was: Standing on said platform caught by an extremely bouncy, hyper Dean. He sighed inwardly. Why did these things always happen to him? Maybe it was written in the stars or something. Professor Trelawney would have a field day with this.

Meanwhile Dean had paused for breath in his otherwise, unstoppable babblogue and was pulling Harry towards the train. Harry couldn't ignore the pulling on his arm so he turned his attention to Dean again. He let himself be dragged to the train and heard Dean say, "In his last letter Seamus told me that he would be waiting for me in a compartment. He also said that he would take Neville with him. So I was wondering, maybe you'll join us?"

Harry thought about it carefuly. Actually he wouldn't mind being ignored by everyone and sitting alone, but Dean had said that Neville would be there as well. So he could ignore Seamus and Dean during the trip, he hoped. He could chat with the calmer Gryffindor instead. Neville he could cope with much better right now than Seamus and Dean. But they probably would be liplocked the entire way to Hogwarts, anyway.

"Erm, sure," he heard himself answer.

"Brilliant, Mate. Let's go find Seamus and Neville!"

For just a moment, he felt guilty. Shouldn't he try to find Ron and Hermione? Shouldn't he be with them so that they could talk about their last year and everything they'd done this summer and speculate about who the next DADA teacher would be? As hard as he thought about it, though, he just couldn't do it. They had ignored him all summer. They knew about his position in the Dursley household. Not everything, true, but enough to know that their letters were something that he needed in order to survive. He couldn't understand why they had only sent one letter each.

He shrugged his shoulders and followed Dean, trying to tune the other boy out as much as he could. He said hello to both Seamus and Neville, and watched as Dean and Seamus kissed each other.

He struck up a conversation with Neville. Things went rather well, considering the circumstances of having a conversation whilst the two other occupants of the compartment were either liplocked or murmuring sweet nothings to each other.

All in all, Harry wasn't feeling too bad, at least not until Luna Lovegood came across their compartment. She opened the door and said "Hullo there, Neville."

Neville blushed as Luna came in and slid into his lap. Within the minute, they too were lip locked, and Harry started to feel like a fifth tire. It seemed Neville had had a very interesting summer…nobody even seemed to notice when Harry stood up and left. He started wandering through the train, now searching in earnest for an empty compartment.

Then he came across the compartment where Ron and Hermione were sitting. After hesitating, he decided to at least greet them.

"Hi", he said as he opened the door.

"Harry!", Hermione said and gave him a hug. Ron hugged him too.

They sat down in an awkward silence.

'We always had so much to say to each other. Now there isn't enough,' Harry thought.

"So, Harry, where have you been?" Hermione finally asked.

"Oh, I've been sitting with Seamus, Dean and Neville. We've been…catching up." Harry said.

Ron frowned, wrinkling his forehead. "Why didn't you come looking for us?" he asked.

Now Harry looked surprised, "I could ask you the same thing."

A quick glance passed between Ron and Hermione, but Harry didn't really care and he slipped into a seat by the window.

Finally, in a matter-of-fact-voice, he asked them about their summer. That innocent seeming question resulted in the both of them jumping into stories at the same time. It soon became clear that they had spent a lot of time together and Harry suddenly understood why he had received as few owls as he had. He wasn't sure how he felt about that yet.

He was deep in thought when the door to their compartment swung open and Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson entered.

* * *

Please Read & Review! 

Feedback is appreciated, Flames are not. If you haven't got anything useful to say, please don't bother…

Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat – 


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note**: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

After Draco's father had been sent to Azkaban, his mother had made sure not to venture out of doors too much. It was simply too much of a strain on her nerves. Therefore, she hadn't accompanied her willowy, blond son to the train station. She did say something to him though, something that kept him thinking all the way to the train station. She had kissed his cheek, as she always did when she said goodbye to him.

As he had received her kiss, Narcissa had looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Have a wonderful year, Draco. If you follow your heart, everything will turn out right. I'm sure you'll do great." As she walked to the door she said in a very quiet voice, but loud enough for Draco to overhear "And for Merlin's sake, TELL him!!!!"

Had she known? He'd owl her the minute he got the chance.

At Platform 9 ¾ he was steadily ignored by most of the Slytherins. He did receive some nods and "hellos" from people from the other Houses. They had started doing that ever since it had become known that his father had been caught by the Ministry and that he had refused to receive the Dark Mark. He nodded back at them.

"Draco!" a familiar voice shouted.

His two remaining friends, Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson, came walking towards him.

"Hey Dray," Blaise said as he punched him affectionately on his shoulder.

"Hey Blaise," Draco answered him.

"Hello Draco," Pansy said.

"Hey guys. How was your summer?" he asked them.

They looked at each other rather nervously, and then looked back at him and Draco began to get suspicious. He hadn't heard an awful lot from either of both of them, but he had figured that that had been because of their parents.

"What's going on with you two?" he asked in a cautious voice.

"Oh, bloody hell, let's just tell him okay?" Blaise said to Pansy.

She nodded, "You see Draco," she started, "Blaise and I have been corresponding a lot over the summer…."

"I thought so, since I didn't receive as many owls as usual." Draco put in, glaring at them with the patented Malfoy glare.

"Yes, well," Blaise took over, trying in vain not to be bothered by his glaring friend, "We've been writing a lot and then we started to see each other more often. We don't live that far away from each other, as you know. And then…the thing is..."

Draco looked on in awe. Was Blaise blushing? He should remember – and exploit it.

"The thing is, Draco, we're dating." Pansy finished the sentence.

They both looked at him expectingly.

Draco was taken aback. He hadn't seen that one coming! He did have to admit that he had been rather busy with his own problems and had therefore not taken as much interest in his friends as he should have.

A smile crept on to his face.

"Congratulations, you guys!" he said, hugging them both.

"What about you?" Pansy asked.

"Yes, Dray, ready to tell him finally?" Blaise asked with a small smile.

Draco stood, gaping at them. How much did they know? How did they know? Had his mother told them? Oh, the horror of that thought! Should he be worried about a conspiracy?

Blaise smiled at Pansy. "Let's get him inside, okay? Come on Dray, we've already secured a private compartment."

As they turned to walk towards the train, they passed Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who were talking with Neville Longbottom.

"Weasley, Granger," Draco said.

He completely ignored Neville, who gave a sigh of relief over that. With significant effort he managed to use the same tone of voice that he used with Blaise and Pansy. Weasley nodded in acknowledgement. Granger actually smiled at him and said, "Hello Malfoy," in her polite voice.

He could feel Blaise and Pansy staring at him so hard that their gazes could have bored holes in his head. They climbed on board, helped Draco put his trunk away and went to the compartment where Blaise and Pansy had already put the rest of their things. They cast silencing charms around it and then said, almost at the same time:

"Ok Dray, time to explain that little interaction with Weasley and Granger."

He had to swallow before finding his voice.

"What did you mean by what you said on the platform?" he had to ask them first.

"Well, Dray," Blaise began while Pansy snuggled against him, "You've been staring at him almost since the beginning of 6th year and I am pretty sure that you've been doing that the years before too. I would say that it's pretty obvious. Have you told Potter that you're in love with him?"

Having said his piece, Blaise leaned back against the seat of the train, pulling Pansy closer. They both looked at him, waiting expectantly.

"No. But I told Weasley and Granger." Draco answered.

"WHAT?!" If their eyes had grown any larger, Draco might have mistaken them for the plates they would soon see at the feast.

"I figured I owed them an apology for the past. I was going to do that anyway, with me not becoming a Death Eater and all," he explained.

Blaise and Pansy nodded. He'd been talking to them about apologizing after coming to his senses when his father was arrested and imprisoned in Azkaban.

"So," he continued, "I owled them and apologized. I told them that I hoped we could at least be civil. And then I ended with a last sentence admitting that I'm madly in love with Potter, and that I'd be wooing him this school year." He couldn't help but smile.

"You really did that? How'd they react?"

"Weasley demanded proof. The suspicious oaf didn't believe me. He thought it some kind of sick joke. I told him that it wasn't and now he's waiting to see if I'm serious. Apparently Granger also noticed me looking at him a lot. She put two and two together and wasn't surprised. She also demanded proof, so I told her what I told Weasley. By the way it went before we boarded, I'd say that being civil to each other is a definite possibility. I think I'll find them later to say "hi" and probably apologize to them again, in front of Potter."

"Still calling him Potter, are you?" Blaise asked looking at him.

"Yeah. Harry is…too much right now. If all goes according to plan, I can always call him that. Potter is an improvement to, "Scar Head," anyway. Besides I call Weasley and Granger by their last names too."

"But, when are you going to tell HIM?" Pansy wanted to know.

"Not just yet. I figured I'd just apologise and then I'd just be friendlier to him, Weasley and Granger. Maybe start up an actual conversation and take it from there." He looked at them. "But I'll take advice if you've got it!"

Blaise had been thinking while Draco had been talking.

"Dray, you know that neither Pansy or I took the Dark Mark."

Draco nodded.

"We could use some friends to see us through this last year at Hogwarts too. How about we come with you and apologize too? Maybe we can then have a bit of a life outside of Slytherin, seeing as we probably won't be as popular as we were before."

Draco thought about it.

"Well, that would be great, but only if you want to."

"I have another question for you. What made you owl Granger and Weasley?"

A small smile crept up his face. "Have you guys heard of this new magazine " i Wizards in Muggle Land /i ?" The surprised looks of his fellow Slytherins told him enough.

After explaining it to them and even showing them the issues he had kept (the ones with the tips in it) they decided to go and meet the three Gryffindors. That meant walking through the train and being stared, sneered and hissed at or simply ignored. Not necessarily in that order. Finally, they came upon the compartment where the three Gryffindors were catching up just like the three Slytherins had been doing. Draco took a deep breath, put his Malfoy Mask on and opened the door.

Potter, Weasley and Granger looked up almost simultaneously. Their reactions were a bit different though. Weasley scowled and seemed to bite his lip to make sure that he didn't say anything. Granger just looked at him with an eyebrow raised in a silent question. Potter was looking at him, apprehension in his eyes, as though he were waiting for Draco to do something.

"Well, if it isn't the Perfect Trio," Draco sneered, just like he always did.

Granger had a bit of a disappointed look about her. He heard Pansy gasp softly behind him.

Weasley proved to be a bit smarter than Draco had given him credit for. "What do you want Malfoy?"

Draco couldn't help but smile softly as Granger's look changed immediately and she seemed to catch on.

"Yes Malfoy," she asked in rather bored tone of voice, "do you have anything interesting to tell us, or are you going to say what you've been saying for almost seven years now?"

That was his cue.

"Actually I do," he said, stepping into the compartment, followed by Blaise and Pansy.

When they were all inside, the Slytherins closed the doors, murmured locking and silencing charms and sat down.

"This is interesting," Granger said, clearly taking the lead on the Gryffindor side. "Now what's going on?"

"Well, Potter, you obviously know about my father being in Azkaban, seeing as you helped to put him there," Draco glared at Potter. "What you also might know is that I refused to take the Dark Mark last year."

They nodded. Draco wasn't very surprised that they knew, as not much got past them.

He continued: "Blaise and Pansy declined the Dark Mark as well."

Draco had to smile at the surprised looks on their faces.

"Our refusal of the Dark Mark had some consequences. The one I am ready to tell you is that we are personae non grata in Slytherin now. Personally, I don't really care, as it's our last year and I made my choice fully aware of what would happen. Since I started thinking for myself, I decided that there were a few things I still had to do. One was refusing the Dark Mark. Second was seeing what friends I had left. Now you can see them too. And third, I wanted to end our rivalry, Potter. It started because of what my father told me, and as you know, back then I believed everything he told me -but no more. I'd like to offer, from my side anyway, a truce: a chance to get to start over again. Who knows? Maybe we can be friends. If not, I hope we can at least be civil to each other. This of course, also counts for you, Weasley, and you, Granger."

Hermione was smiling at Draco, giving him a funny look. He suddenly questioned whether or not he had done the right thing.

"Uhm," said Blaise, suddenly finding five pair of eyes focused on him: "Pansy and I have been talking about this too and we would like to say that we feel the same way, don't we Pansy?"

She nodded her agreement and smiled.

"Well, as peachy as all of this sounds," Weasley actually managed sarcasm, a plus, Draco had to admit, "How do we know this just isn't one big hoax?"

Draco, Blaise and Pansy looked at each other. Finally, Draco sighed. He pulled up the sleeve of his uniform shirt and showed them his arm. It was unmarked. Blaise and Pansy did the same, and they also had unmarked arms.

Draco was now beginning to get a bit nervous. It was nice that Weasley and Granger were playing along, but what he really wanted to know was Potter's reaction. He finally dared himself to look at the messy, raven-haired boy. He found green eyes on him. He couldn't exactly read them, but he could tell that Potter was thinking hard.

"Look," Blaise said to get them past the silence, "I don't expect you to immediately embrace us as your new best friends. We all know that that would be…well…awkward, now wouldn't it? But we'd appreciate it if you would think about it at least. It's our last year at Hogwarts and I would rather end it knowing I have new friends than I would end it with enemies based on facts that are no longer accurate."

"You're right," Potter finally spoke. There was an edge to his voice Draco hadn't heard before. Ok, so they'd usually only sneered at each other and thrown insults and thus he didn't really know what Potter's voice sounded like. But there was definitely an edge to it.

"We can't just embrace you as our newest, best friends. But I also see the point you're making about ending old feuds. This does come out of the blue, though, so we need to think about it. But there is one thing: If you want this friends-thing to have an honest chance, you're going to have to stop using the names you called Ron and his family and Hermione. If you can do that, maybe we'll talk later."

Wow, Draco thought, Potter knows how to make a point. He'd been looking straight at Draco while he gave his little speech and hadn't moved a muscle. His voice, however, did all the talking. Literally. It was low and calm but with an undertone that said that this was un-negotiable.

Draco nodded. What else could he do? He'd come asking for their friendship and thus had little leverage with which to bargain. Oh wait, he did have something to put in:

"Fine, but in that case I would like it if you and your friends would not use the f-word when talking about or to me, ok?"

Someone snorted. It was a muffled snort, but it was there. And suddenly the old Malfoy glare was back in action, sweeping over the three Gryffindors. Why was Potter suddenly so interested in what was happening outside? When he turned his head back, Draco could see his lips slightly twitching and there was a laugh in his eyes.

Draco opened his mouth to tell him off, but at that moment the speaker on the train announced that they had only 30 minutes until arrival at Hogwarts and that all students were required to return to their compartments to change into school robes.

"We'll talk later," Draco managed to get out before he left. When he looked back to close the door, he saw the three Gryffindors looking at him with a contemplative look on their faces.

* * *

Please Read & Review! 

Feedback is appreciated, Flames are not. If you haven't got anything useful to say, please don't bother…

Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat – 


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note**: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Soon after arriving at Hogwarts, things settled in their usual routine.

Well, almost.

Draco was happy to have his own room. Thankfully, after his first week at Hogwarts his radio arrived so he used it when he was in his room. It had taken him a lot of effort to charm the radio thus that it now also worked within the castle. Some of his father's books came in quite handy when he was trying to figure that out. His prefect duties took up what little spare time had left after classes, homework and Quidditch practice. He hung out with Blaise and Pansy a lot, at least until they went into "snog-mode" as he liked to call it.

He was now in his room, listening to the radio and thinking about how the first month of school had been. He'd kept his promise and had been civil and even sometimes friendly towards Potter, Weasley and Granger. He had started some short conversations with them. Sometimes he even surprised himself, and, as it turned out, a lot of other people as well. The reactions were as varied, as he had anticipated: The Gryffindors were curious to know the reason for his change of heart whilst the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws mainly seemed to be rather relieved that the risk of coming upon a certain Slytherin and Gryffindor throwing insults or hexes at each other down random hallways had been seriously reduced. The Slytherins were either completely confused or felt re-assured in their opinion that Draco was completely starkers. (Draco had a suspicion that Snape thought so as well.)

He had to smile at that thought. He'd bet that when his fellow Slytherins found out he was in love with Potter, the only thing his House mates would do for him would be to collect money for a one way ticket to St. Mungo's Psyciatric Ward. Draco still stubbornly called the other boy Potter. Calling him Harry was…well Draco wasn't ready for that; let's just keep it at that for now.

It was at that moment that the blond boy decided that it was time for the next phase of his plan, to get Harry Potter as his boyfriend was about to begin. He searched through his trunk, trying to find the last copy of his magazine. After a lot of muttering and the growth of an increasing pile of clothes and objects beside his trunk, he found what he sought. With a swish and flick of his wand, all of the other items returned to his trunk as he settled himself on his bed. After leafing through the magazine, he found the column.

**Learning To Flirt**– _Some folks think small talk is inane and artificial. Some folks think flirting is archaic or demeaning. Those folks may be right. But they are also lonely. Flirting with an attractive stranger at the laundromat, making small talk at the office Christmas party, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone and gives your heart muscle a workout, can be an enormous boon to your efforts to find your true love. And if you find your true love, who cares what other people think? Learning to flirt doesn't make you silly; it makes you proficient in basic social skills. Getting clever with small talk isn't banal; it's one expression of the fine art of conversation. So get good at it. You might be delighted by what it gets you._

He gasped. He read it again, and again. Learn to flirt, eh? Hmmm, that would be a task indeed, as he was fairly certain that Malfoys didn't do flirting. He couldn't ask his father – or at least he didn't want to do so. And he didn't want to burden his mother with this "problem".

Right.

So he would flirt. But how?

Because he hoped that it would help him to get ideas, he started flipping through the magazine and scanning the articles. In doing so, he stumbled upon an advert:

_Do you have a celebration?_

_Want to tell someone some good news?_

_Need to ask that special person a question?_

_Send an Owl-O-Gram!!_

_Our owls will deliver a singing parchment, which can be customized to your wishes! _

He suddenly felt much better. Maybe it wasn't exactly flirting, but it would be a nice, unique way of telling Potter that someone was thinking special thoughts about him.

He turned on his radio to one of his favourite stations, hoping to hear a song with lyrics he could be inspired by. After listening for about 45 minutes, one finally came along that appealed to him because it had the perfect lyrics. It was a declaration but not an invitation, a very important distinction at this point!

He grabbed a bit of parchment and started to write out his order. He also wrote a little note to Granger, asking her if she knew what music Potter liked. He then walked to the owlery to find his owl and gave her instructions. Just when he neared the owlery, though, he saw Potter coming out. A rather happy, satisfied looking Harry Potter, at that.

"Evening, Potter," he managed while fighting to overcome his surprise at running in to the Gryffindor at that precise moment.

"Hello Malfoy," Harry answered still beaming beneath his scattered inky locks.

"Out on stroll?" He asked but immediately wanted to disappear in the lake. Talk about a stupid question!

"Actually, I've just sent Hedwig off." Apparently Potter didn't agree with Draco's self- assessment, talking normally to him. "She had to deliver a letter for me."

"Have an owl-pal now do you?" Draco couldn't keep himself from blurting out what he'd been thinking.

Potter gave him the same look that he had given him when they'd been talking on the train.

"Well, yes, and I have had him for a couple of years now too," Potter answered before saying, "I have to go. Good night Malfoy."

Draco watched Harry walk away. He was a bit awe struck by the fact that they had actually had a conversation without hexing each other! Finally, he snapped out of it and quietly went to find his owl and tell her what to do.

Draco had trouble eating breakfast the next day. He worried over when the Owl-O-Gram would come and also about Granger's reaction to his note.

Then, after what seemed longer than eternity, the owls flew in with the post.

He saw Granger take delivery of her Daily Prophet and then, just as casually as he had instructed his eagle owl to do so, he saw her drop his note in Granger's hands. Curious Gryffindor that she was, she opened it immediately but made certain that the others couldn't read the note. He saw her smile whilst reading and he wondered, not for the first time, what her reaction would be, not too mention, when he'd receive an answer. If he got one, that was. But when he looked back to the Gryffindor table, it was clear that he had missed something.

Weasley was gesturing at the little piece of parchment that she held firmly in her hand. Granger was frowning and talking to Weasley in what looked like an annoyed way. She wore the frown that told Draco that she wasn't happy about something (as he'd spent enough time over the past years putting that look on her face, he was a specialist in recognizing it).

Apparently Weasley had said something that Granger didn't like because she suddenly stood up, still clutching the parchment firmly, gathered her books and almost stalked away.

Weasley was staring after her, a confused look on his face. He turned to Potter, who'd been stitting facing Weasley, and started talking to him. He couldn't see Potter's expression, but he must have been talking back. Weasley's frown grew deeper and he looked as if Potter had taken one Bludger too many to the head. After they finished breakfast they walked from the Great Hall together, Weasley still talking and gesticulating wildly with his hands. Although Draco couldn't decipher what the talk was about, he guessed that the Weasel – oops, no – i Weasley /i was upset about something. All Draco could think about the whole thing was "Interesting!"

The rest of the day nothing all that interesting happened, aside from the fact that Snape seemed to be in a particularly foul mood. That always perked him right up. Too bad it was the last class of the day.

The next morning he kept shifting in his seat at the Slytherin table, waiting for breakfast to be over. On the other hand, he didn't want it to end too soon, because this morning Potter had decided to sit at the other side of the Gryffindor table and Draco had a perfect view of Potter's green eyes and high cheek bones. Draco tried not to stare too openly, but by the way Blaise and Pansy were looking at him he clearly wasn't succeeding.

Finally, breakfast was over and the owls swept over the tables. A familiar owl swooped down and dropped a piece of parchment into Draco's long fingers. He opened it, not able to wait any longer.

_Malfoy,_

_Unfortunately, I don't know what music Harry likes. We don't listen to music at school and the last couple of summer's music wasn't really a topic of conversation. There are reasons for that, but I don't trust you enough yet to give them to you. Do whatever you're planning to do and I'll let you know what his reaction is._

_Hermione Granger_

It was a bit disappointing. He'd hoped to learn something.

Then another thought entered his mind. Potter's owl-pal! He did have a special sort of smile when talking about him. It was a him. And he still didn't know if Potter was gay or not. On the other hand, Granger would've told him if Potter was straight as a broomstick. Wouldn't she have?

He didn't really want to ask her. That would certainly blow up what he had left of his old Malfoy-self like a cauldron handled by Longbottom. It was the same reason that he didn't want to ask her about Potter's owl-pal.

He groaned. Merlin, he was pathetic! He didn't want to look too needy to Granger or worse, Weasley.

Draco took a deep breath. All he could do now was wait for the Owl-O-Gram to arrive and hope that Granger meant it when she said that she'd let him know what Potter's reaction to the whole thing was.

He got through the next few days in an entirely normal way. He had the Malfoy Mask firmly in place so as to keep up appearances. He did, however, try as well as he could to let the mask slip when talking to or with the three Gryffindors. At first they had looked at him with funny expressions on their overly expressive faces. When he noticed that, he decided to explain the whole thing in the only way he knew how without attracting too much attention to himself. He wrote them a note.

Draco experienced strange sensations in his stomach when he received a third answer. An answer he hadn't expected. He'd burned the other two but he kept _this_ note in a secret compartment of his trunk. After the surprising third note, talking to them had become a bit easier. After a while he even looked forward to running into the three of them...Okay, only two of them: Weasley still looked at Draco as if a second head might appear at any time. Granger was really trying to forget what had happened in the past, and Draco was slowly learning to see her as a smart and powerful witch. She was no longer a mudblood.

And then there was Potter. Of course he was happy when talking to them if Potter was there, even though the darker boy kept mostly rather quiet. He usually just took the situation in, and at some point would add his thoughts to the conversation. For the rest, Potter wasn't showing what was going on inside his mind or heart. He showed neither that he did or did not like Draco. But at least, when Potter did talk to Draco, he did so without a look of contempt. Draco was relieved and slowly allowed a bit of hope to float.

Blaise and Pansy also put in a lot of effort. They could be seen talking occasionly with Weasley and Granger, and sometimes they even had fun together. All in all, the first few weeks hadn't been bad and had gone beyond the three Slytherins' expectations in the "make new friends" area.

Then, one morning when, of course, he had stopped thinking about the Owl-O-Gram, it turned up. Potter's owl brought him a letter. Draco thought, when Potter gave a happy smile that it must be from his owl-pal. Draco felt something tug in his stomach but chose not to dwell on that at that particular moment. He'd do that later. Then he saw a strange owl swoop down, carrying a black and gold envelope.

Of course, the minute the envelope was taken by Potter the entire school had noticed and was watching him, waiting for him to open it. He could see Weasley gesturing and he could see Potter turn the envelope round and round in his hands. Draco looked on in amazement for the next 10 minutes or so as Potter just had the envelope unopened before him and was waving his wand above it while clearly muttering something. He did a scarily good impression of Mad-Eye Moody, Draco thought. Finally, when he had finished whatever he was doing, he opened it and a song poured out. First music, then a voice: the same one he'd heard on the radio, started singing.

_Baby, it's a dream come true  
Walking right alongside of you  
Wish I could tell you how much I care  
But I only have the nerve to stare_

_I can feel a new expression on my face  
I can feel a glowing sensation taking place  
I can hear the guitars playing lovely tunes  
Every time that you walk in the room_

_I close my eyes for a second and pretend it's me you want  
Meanwhile I try and act so nonchalant  
I see a summer night with a magic moon  
Every time that you walk in the room_

_Baby, it's a dream come true  
Walking right alongside of you  
Wish I could tell you how much I care  
But I only have the nerve to stare  
Yeah, yeah_

_I can hear something pounding in my brain  
Every time that someone speaks your name  
Trumpets sounding; I hear love in bloom  
Every time that you walk in the room_

_Every time that you walk in the room_

_Oh yeah  
Every time you walk  
I feel a brand new way  
Oh yes I do  
Yeah, baby_1

He could see Potter look at the letter in disbelief, and then start to appear worried and then…he started to blush! A huge smile plastered itself on his face. He, Draco Malfoy, had managed to make Harry Potter blush! The-Boy-Who-Lived was now The-Boy-Who-Blushed! It was…cute.

The moment he thought it, he wanted to slap himself. He started to do so, when a hand grabbed his wrist. A snarl ready to lash out, he turned to see which idiot had done it.

It turned out to be Blaise. He was smirking. It took a moment to take that in.

"You don't want to do that, Dray," Blaise said.

"And why not?" Draco asked, haughtily.

"Because he is now reading the note that came with the song and I think you might want to see his face afterwards." Blaise answered calmly. After all, he was used to Draco's haughtiness.

Draco turned to watch Potter open the attached note. He of course knew what it said.

_To Harry Potter._

_Know that this is how I feel whenever I meet you in the hallways, the Great Hall or outside. I find it hard to tell you this face to face, so I thought I'd use a song to do the talking for me. I really hope you don't mind. _

_Love,_

_Your secret out-of-House admirer for a couple of years now _

Ok, so the ending was lame. But he'd been out of inspiration, and besides he hadn't wanted to give himself away that easily! Maybe he'd do it again, send a song and then begin to give more clues. Though, of course, he'd probably only do it if Granger told him that Potter liked this one.

Blaise's voice shook him out of his dreamy state. "If you're not careful with how you look today, people are going to start wondering why you're in such a good mood. I'm sure some Ravenclaws will be able to put two and two together." Blaise raised his eyebrow.

Draco merely sighed. "You're right Blaise," he admitted, "It's just that a thought entered my mind that was rather…interesting. It had a bit of an effect on me."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "I don't want to know what the effect on you will be when he says "yes," Dray. We'll have to drag you down from the ceiling, won't we?"

"Uh-huh", was all that Draco could manage, while a certain mental image of Potter saying "yes" nestled itself in his mind.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. All anyone seemed to talk about was the Owl-O-Gram that Potter had received. Harry wasn't talking, but he walked around with a strange look on his face and sometimes would stare at nothing. Draco didn't see this happening, because the bloody Owl-O-Gram had arrived on the one day that Slytherin did not have shared classes with Gryffindor.

He hoped Granger would write him that note soon. Draco kept looking around to see if he saw her. He was hoping that he'd be able to talk to her privately. Also, he started thinking that right about now might be a good time to start spreading the rumour that he was gay. He was going to have to talk to Blaise and Pansy about that. Pansy always knew every piece of gossip, even before it had been out. It had to be out before Potter figured out who'd sent that Owl-O-Gram. Because once that rumour was out, Draco could start giving more specific clues in his next Owl-O-Gram.

Like Draco had said before: he was pathetic...And he wasn't even worried.

* * *

1 When you walk in the room – Paul Carrack

* * *

Please Read & Review! 

Feedback is appreciated, Flames are not. If you haven't got anything useful to say, please don't bother…

Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat – 


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note**: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Harry felt like he was on a sugar high. He was absolutely and completely flabbergasted. This morning had started out as normal as ever. He was one of the last boys in his dorm to wake up. So he had to run through the showers and make use of a drying spell to save time. After that he quickly put on the same clothes he had worn the day before and ran to the common room where Ron and Hermione waited for him as they had been doing from his first year on.

Together they walked to the Great Hall for breakfast. He ate the same things as he always did and then he watched the owls fly in with the mail. It still amazed him every time he saw them soar through the Great Hall. They all looked different. There were school owls, house owls and pet owls – like Hedwig, only nobody else had a snowy owl.

Much to Harry's surprise, he saw an unfamiliar owl approach him, carrying a black and gold envelope. At first he thought it had to be a joke played on him by the Weasley twins, but he quickly crossed out that possibility and still didn't know who had sent the letter. Harry cast a sneak-o-spell charm on the letter, something he always did to unfamiliar mail. The spell checked for curses, hexes, dangerous portkey destinations, booby traps, potions, poisons and …pranks. The prank detection was something he'd included in the spell after being surprised by Fred and George one time too many.

He was so preoccuppied with what he was doing that he didn't notice that his fellow Gryffindors, half the staff and some curious Slytherins, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were watching him examine the envelope.

When the spell didn't trace anything dangerous on the envelope, Harry opened it cautiously. As the post came open, music erupted from it. The song was nice; it was very, very nice. Inwardly he sighed and could feel himself blushing as he listened carefully to the lyrics. Who could have sent this to him? Not Remus, certainly. The song wasn't not appropriate for the relationship Harry had with his former DADA professor. He also couldn't imagine Ron, Hermione or any other member of Gryffindor House to be behind this Owl-O-Gram. Then suddenly, it hit him…

It had to be from Harry's owl-pal. There were several reasons that Harry could think of for why that must be the case:

1. His owl-pal was one of the only people who knew Harry was romantically interested in men,

2. His owl-pal had been writing that he was head over heels in love with Harry in the last several letters and

3. Perhaps most importantly, Harry couldn't think of anyone else who would possibly send him something so romantic.

Harry thought about it carefully. Although he liked the song and the gesture, he knew that he wasn't in love with his owl-pal. Maybe, Harry thought, he should send a letter immediately, telling him that whilst Harry liked it, he didn't want to be anything more than owl-pals. Should he also let his friend know that he was interested in someone else? No, that would just be mean. He realized he could always write that later.

Harry sat for a moment, perplexed but then noticed that the Owl-O-Gram was accompanied by a note. He picked up the parchment, thinking that it might include some clues as to who had sent him the lovely singing message. The note, however, didn't shed any light on the identity of the sender. But it could not be his owl-pal Harry realised, because his owl-pal didn't attend Hogwarts anymore. Who could his secret admirer be? Was it someone out-of-house? "Oh no!" Harry thought with a start, "Tell me it isn't Justin Fitch-Fletchley. Please oh please i don't /i let it be him." With some effort, Harry brought his panic attack under control and tried to think logically once more. "Ok, so that was Hufflepuff," Harry couldn't bring any other potential suitors in Hufflepuff to mind. "It i could /i be a Ravenclaw… Terry Boot is nice." Yes he would definitely be intrigued to explore something with Terry.

But now that he was thinking about it more thoroughly, it could also be a Slytherin. "Oh boy! Would I survive that?" Harry thought that although he wouldn't mind at all if it were someone interesting, he wasn't so sure about Ron, Hermione or any of his other fellow Gryffindors. "Now, who could it be if it was a Slytherin?" He couldn't think of anyone in that house because the Slytherins were such a close knitted group. They were so secretive that he hadn't heard of any rumours about Slytherin males who were gay or bi. Harry could think of someone he hoped to be the culprit but as he had never been lucky before with his wishes, he didn't dare to let his hopes rise too far.

Harry felt someone tap him on the shoulder, and looking up he saw Hermione. "Are you okay, Harry?" She asked him.

"I'm fine," He answered.

"Oh, Harry, I hope you don't mind my saying so, but you don't look fine to me." Hermione replied.

Harry sighed. He should have known, of course, that nothing would ever be missed by Hermione.

"I was just wondering who could have sent me this Owl-O-Gram."

"And …?" Hermione pushed on.

"And what?" Harry asked innocently.

"Well, do you have any idea who might have sent it to you?" She insisted.

"Actually, I have no idea," Harry answered. "There are lots of possibilities from all of the houses. The fact that the note came with a song said it's from an out-of-house admirer. So that leaves three Houses."

_Hermione's POV _

"Hmm," Hermione thought, "It has to be Draco; it couldn't be anyone else. That's why he asked for Harry's favourite song. From what I could see of Harry while the song was playing, he seemed to like it very much. Now what do I tell him without letting him know that I know who sent it to him?"

Hoping not to raise any suspicions, she asked Harry, "Do you have any thoughts about who you want to have sent that Owl-O-Gram?"

Reluctantly, Harry answered, "As matter of fact I do."

"And …?" once again Hermione pressed on.

"All I can say is that the person that I'm thinking of has blond hair."

Hermione hoped he was referring to Draco, but Harry hadn't admitted to either her or Ron that he was gay. So even if he'd admitted that to himself, something of which she was not so sure, he might not admit it to anyone else.

Breakfast was coming to an end and classes were about to start. Hermione couldn't ask any more questions. She was most dissapointed when it turned out that Harry was having an animated discussion with Ron about quidditch during lunch. She was even more dissapointed when Harry and Ron couldn't be persuaded to talk about anything else. Obviously she also couldn't talk to Harry about it during classes.

Hermione had set all her hopes on dinner. Little did she know that all the 7th year Gryffindor guys had made a deal and were eagerly discussing all sorts of sports related things. One of the topics was the similarity, or lack thereof, between quidditch and similar muggle sports. She sighed.

Needless to say that Harry did the dissapearing act once dinner was over and everybody retreated to the common room.

The next couple of days Hermione got more and more agitated when another possibility to speak with Harry did not work out. She did notice, however, that once in a while Harry would stare into the distance with a dreamy look on his face. And sometimes she saw that he was playing with the black and gold enveloppe in which the Owl-O-Gram had been delivered to him.

She had heard from Dean that Harry had been spotted sitting in the windowsill of the 7th year boys' dormitory and listening to the song over and over. It almost got to the point that all the other 7th year boys wanted to put a silencing spell on the Owl-O-Gram so that they wouldn't have to hear to the bloody song again.

That night at dinner she hoped that she would finally have a chance to speak with Harry, but she didn't give herself too much hope. She was right. Of course, Harry managed to settle himself between Seamus and Dean past Neville and Ron. The topic that evening was…quidditch. She should have known. She sighed with pure frustration.

At that moment Lavender came rushing over to the Gryffindor table. She was red in her face. Hermione couldn't tell whether that was from running or from excitement. 'Probably both,' she thought.

"I have just heard THE most incredible news; maybe the most incredible news of the i year /i . In the hallway today I overheard Pansy telling Millicent Bulstrode that Draco Malfoy is not into girls!"

"What!?" Hermione heard that coming from all directions. She also saw a look on Harry's face as though Christmas had come early this year. Lavender hadn't overheard anything more. When asked if she knew if Draco had acted on his interest in men, Lavender could not say as Pansy and Millicent hadn't said anything about that.

_Harry's POV _

That night Harry was lying awake, replaying everything that had happened earlier. He couldn't understand his luck. Draco was not into girls. That sentence kept repeating itself over and over in his head. All his dreams might come true at last.

'Well,' he thought 'that's a bit too optimistic. Draco doesn't know that I'm swinging the same way and I'm not brave enough to shout it from the Astronomy Tower either. So, it probably won't help me any.'

Meanwhile, that night, Hermione and Draco met each other in the kitchens. Hermione had smuggled a note to Draco during their Arithmancy lesson. As Ron and Harry didn't take that class she could keep it from them very easily. She really wanted to ask Draco about the song and everything.

* * *

Please Read & Review!

Feedback is appreciated, Flames are not. If you haven't got anything useful to say, please don't bother…

Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat – 


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note**: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!

* * *

**Chapter 7 **

The morning after he had met with Hermione, Draco wandered into the Great Hall. She had told him that Harry clearly liked the Owl-O-Gram a lot, seeming very attached to it. She had received the first growl she had ever gotten from Harry, when she had reached for the envelope. Hermione promised to keep Draco up-to-date should there be any more news. She had also told him about the rumour doing the rounds that Draco was gay and had noticed right away that Harry wasn't overly upset about that.

So, when he walked into the Great Hall he wasn't surprised to see everyone looking at him, and as he sat down, the whispering started. 'Ah,' he thought with a smile, 'Pansy's been busy.' Seemingly unaffected, he started to fill his plate for breakfast.

"Good morning, Dray," Blaise and Pansy greeted him as they took their places.

He looked Pansy in the eye and said, "Good work!"

She smiled, "It's mostly Lavender's job actually. I made certain that she overheard when I told Millicent about your…preferences. I left out the bit about whom you fancy, though. We might have to talk about that sometime later today." And with a wink she started to eat her breakfast.

Draco silently vowed to take Pansy more seriously from now on. She had demonstrated pure genius in spreading the rumour! Now, all he had to do was to get the word out that he was interested in Harry Potter.

Suddenly, a cunning plan popped into his brain. "Blaise, you know I have shared Herbology with the Gryffindors after lunch, right?" He asked. At Blaise's nod, Draco continued, "Good. I'll need to talk to you in private before that class begins, and I'll explain it all."

Blaise couldn't help but smile and spent the rest of the morning, wondering what Draco had come up with.

Herbology class was almost over. Too bad the Trio didn't take it anymore, but at least Longbottom, Brown, Thomas and Patil still did, Draco thought.

As agreed, Blaise came running to the greenhouse, clearly aiming for Draco. In an annoyed tone, Draco said, "Blaise, what's the matter? You could've just walked to meet me …about...you…and," Blaise panted, hands on his knees, "I had to find out."

Both of them ignored the fact that Lavender had crept closer to them.

"Really? What is it?" Draco sounded impatient.

"The rumour…is that you're gay!" Blaise said.

"Yes, but that should hardly be any news to you!" Draco interrupted.

Both boys distinctly heard gasps of "so it's true then" from the students still in the greenhouse.

Blaise shook his head, "That's not it! The rumour is that you're crushing on Harry Potter!"

More gasps sounded as Draco seemed to think it over. "Well, he i is /i the hottest bloke at Hogwarts, Blaise," he answered in a reasonable tone. "In fact, he's the hottest bloke I have seen in a long time." He looked at his watch, "Come on. We're supposed to meet Pansy for Arithmancy."

They kept up a light conversation until they were certain that they were out of hearing range.

Draco gave Blaise a big smile. "That went wonderfully! Let's see how the rest of the school reacts. And more importantly: Potter!"

The school reacted downright confused. Draco noticed whispers and looks galore, but so far nobody dared to approach Draco about it. That was just fine with him. He had trouble though, daring to look at the Gryffindor table. It took him most of dinner to find out why that was. He was disgusted with himself. The reason he didn't dare to look to see how the Trio was taking it was because he was afraid that Harry Potter would be looking at him in disgust or anger.

Unfortunately, both Blaise and Pansy were facing him and thus couldn't be spy on Potter for him. But if Draco could have gotten up the courage to look, he would have felt much better: Harry had blushed throughout the meal, throwing confused looks at the Slytherin table.

After dinner, when he was back in his room, he decided that it had been a very good day. He decided that it was time to employ one of the tips from his magazine. Because he had been a bit busy, with the start of the new school year, making sure that he would meet Potter often enough in the hallways and having Pansy spread the rumour, that he hadn't read the last couple of issues. So, he dived them up from the bottom of his trunk and started leafing through the oldest edition he hadn't read yet until he found the next tip.

**Smile **- _It's not just your face that registers smiles and frowns; it's your whole body. When your eyes are downcast, your arms folded across your chest or your spine stiff, you might as well be walking a pit bull . Your body is a neon sign flashing "Stay Away." Catch yourself at random moments and check to see what you're projecting. Send a welcoming message instead – one that's more likely to attract than repel. When your face is lit up and your body's relaxed, you project openness and warmth, and you invite the kind of response you're looking for. So smile, and see if you can get that special someone, to smile back._

"That author's got to be kidding me," Draco thought. Then, after thinking it over, he smiled instead. Tomorrow he had Potions with Gryffindor. Lately, Snape had been pairing them up, taking great delight in pairing Slytherins and Gryffindors who didn't seem to be getting along well. Over the past several weeks he'd been partnered with Weasley, Granger and Longbottom. He suspected, and rather more hoped, that tomorrow he would finally be paired with Potter. That way he could try the smile thing ... He kept thinking about it the rest of the evening and then dreamt about it too.

Draco was full of anticipation as he walked to the dungeons for Potion's class the next day. He had woken up with the brilliant idea of asking Snape to pair him up with Potter. But he had been dreaming about it too long and had almost been late for Transfiguration, leaving him in a foul mood ever since. But at last he had Potions. That perked him right up. Just the thought of hearing Snape deduct points from Gryffindor made him want to... but as just he got really creative with what he'd do, Snape stalked in, robes billowing about him.

"Ah," Draco thought, "the show begins."

"Today the following pairs will work together." Snape said in his usual irritated-and-bored-beyond-belief-tone. "Granger/Zabini, Weasley/Parkinson, Longbottom/Bulstrode, Malfoy/Potter."

All Draco could think about was that he finally had the partner that he wanted to work with. He couldn't do anything but smirk while he waited for Potter to join him at his desk. Meanwhile he saw the long list of ingredients appear on the blackboard. He groaned. It was one of those potions where every couple of minutes a new ingredient had to be added.

"Hello Potter." he said in a soft voice.

"Hello Malfoy." Potter said and gave him a strange look.

"Want to get started? Have you seen the list of ingredients? How about I take the ones on the left and you on the right? It'll save time I think." Draco thought that it really wasn't all that hard to be nice to Harry as he spoke. Especially when Harry looked at him with those beautiful green eyes of his.

Harry looked at Draco as if the Slytherin had come from a different planet. Draco suddenly had a panic attack. Did his hair look out of place? Did he have a smear on his face?

"Alright, Malfoy. But you are acting strange." Potter said to him.

'Smile! Draco, smile!' he thought to himself. So he did.

Potter seemed to freeze and Draco feared that he would keel over. Then he heard Granger shriek. Professor Snape was walking past the desks to see if they all had done what they were supposed to do and was just passing the boys' desk when he saw Draco give Harry his smile. Snape halted by their desks, opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again as he saw Draco and Harry both look at him innocently before he continued walking past.

Throughout the potion's class Draco continued to be nice to Harry and found that it didn't even cause him any trouble. In fact, he rather enjoyed working with the boy that had once made his blood boil. It turned out that when Snape stayed out of his way, Harry was a good partner to have when brewing a potion. The only trouble that Draco had was in trying to read the Gryffindor's feelings. He did notice, however, those green eyes on him, and in them was a quiet wonder and something that looked like hope. Whenever Draco had been particularly nice, Potter would blush. Draco would then smile at him. Potter would then avoid looking at him for several moments, and then the whole game started over again.

It was endearing but it really didn't get him any further. Draco decided that maybe another Owl-O-Gram was in order. And he'd see if Granger couldn't push a bit harder. Come to think of Granger, she hadn't told him about Potter's reaction to the rumours. Maybe he ought to wait for that first before he sent off another Owl-O-Gram. Gods, he hated being dependent on somebody else! Especially if that somebody else was a bloody Gryffindor!

They managed to finish the lesson in peace. It went well enough that Snape's mood got steadily worse as he found nothing over which to deduct points from Gryffindor, or more specifically, from Harry.

When the lesson was over both Draco and Harry took their time cleaning up. Draco dragged it out so that Harry would have to say something to him when he left.

When he had packed his bag, he looked at Draco and left, saying only, "Thanks for your help today, Malfoy."

Just as Draco was ready to leave the dungeon, Snape's voice called him.

"Mr. Malfoy, may I have a word with you please?"

"Yes, Professor Snape?"

Snape closed the dungeon door and turned to face Draco.

"Draco, it has come to my attention that certain rumours concerning you are doing their rounds here at Hogwarts."

Draco feigned ignorance: "Oh?"

Snape sighed, trying very hard not to snap. He failed.

"Yes, about you! In fact two of them are floating happily about."

Snape started pacing as Draco watched with an amused expression on his haughty features.

"The first, sir?"

"The first is that you are gay, Draco." Snape prepared for Draco to throw a tantrum, as he was known to do when he was younger and rumours about him were spread.

"Hmm, well, yes that is true, Sir. I am gay." He nodded.

"WHAT?!?!?!" Snape bellowed.

"You know. I seek for the other team, I swing the other way…need I go on, Sir?" Draco asked innocently, eager to help his professor understand.

Snape looked even paler than usual. Draco felt proud. "Sir, what about the second rumour?"

"Oh, yes, the second rumour." It took Snape considerable effort to get himself together.

"The second rumour is that you think Har... Potter…" Snape clearly still had trouble getting the name out, "…. is a…. hot…. looking…. bloke."

Snape had to have a sip of water now that he had managed to get it out. He looked at Draco. Surely now the tantrum would begin.

"Well, Sir, that is – again – absolutely correct. He is incredibly hot."

Snape was at a loss.

"Draco, am I correct to understand that both the rumours are true?"

Draco nodded, actually smiling at him.

"And would you know how these rumours came to circulate?" Snape asked.

The minute he asked he saw Draco's face light up, Snape knew that he did not want to hear the answer.

"Yes I do, sir. I started them." He immediately said.

"You. Started. Them." Snape heaved. Suddenly all around him went black.

The Potion's Master had fainted.

Draco looked at him and decided to go and find another Head of House, to tell someone that the Potion's Master had fainted.

The next couple of days, Draco did his best to show everyone the rumours were quite true.

He spent as much time as he could near Potter. He would smile at Potter. He would try to touch him occasionally. Draco would leap to Harry's defence if some Slytherin dared to insult him in his presence… All in all he thought he was doing a good job. Until, that is, he received Granger's note.

_Hey Malfoy,_

_That was pretty clever, you know that? Throwing that rumour about how you fancy Harry. I was hoping he'd tell me whether or not he likes you too. Would've been a whole lot easier for the both of us. But, he does sit in the Common Room often, listening to that song you sent him and dreaming into space. It's become more intense since that second rumour, though. He won't say anything to me or Ron. Maybe you could try something else? Another song? That seemed to go over really well. I finally pried the attached note from him. If you'd take any advice: no more subtleties! Tell him straight out! Otherwise it'll be Christmas before he's onto something (just like a certain somebody I know)!!!!_

_Regards,_

_Hermione_

Not what he'd planned. He didn't understand why Potter hadn't talked to her, though. They had always been so close! Surely he'd have told her by now if he was bothered by that rumour?

That night he put on his radio, hoping he would find a song to send with the Owl-O-Gram, remembering from the other one that it took about a week before the owl would show up. He did have to think on the note carefully, though. In that respect, Granger had been right: he would have to lose the subtleties in this one.

It took him some effort to pick out the song, but when he listened to it once more, he decided that the words would do very nicely. The note took some effort, but finally that was accomplished as well. He walked to the owlery, secretly hoping that he'd run into Harry just like he did the last time. That didn't happen and he walked back to the Slytherin common room grumpily.

The rest of the week he kept smiling at Potter and generally acting friendly with him. Slowly he could see Potter start to relax around him, but still hadn't brought up the rumours. It was a good thing that he had already sent away for the Owl-O-Gram, otherwise he might've forced it out of him. He did like to think, however, that Potter was trying to spend more time around him and was even trying to sit next to him when they would meet outside on the grounds.

Then, about a week after he'd sent the order, an owl carrying a familiar black and gold envelope swooped into the Great Hall. Immediately, the entire Hall went quiet and waited in anticipation of what would come out of it now.

_What would I have to do  
to get you to notice me too  
do I  
stand in line  
one of a million  
admiring eyes_

_Walk a tightrope way up high  
write your name across the sky_

_I'm going crazy just to let you know  
you'd be amazed how much I love you so baby  
when I get my hands on you I won't let go  
this time I know it's for real_

_Should I write or call your home  
shout it out with a megaphone  
radio, TV news  
got to find a way  
to get my message to you_

_To say I love you with a neon sign  
anything to make you mine_

_I'm going crazy just to let you know  
if I wait too long for you I might explode baby  
I've been around the block enough to know  
that this time I know it's for real_

_Oh baby  
this time, this time, this time, this time  
oh baby  
this time, this time_

_Walk a tightrope way up high  
write your name across the sky_

_I'm going crazy just to let you know  
you'd be amazed how much I love you so baby  
when I get my hands on you I won't let go  
this time I know it's for real_

_I'm going crazy just to let you know  
if I waited too long for you I might explode baby  
I've been around the block enough to know  
that this time I know it's for real_1

He could see Potter swallow and look around him nervously. But still, those green eyes didn't even once wander across to the Slytherin table.

"Your work Dray?" He heard Blaise whisper. He only nodded and signalled Blaise to keep quiet. Now Potter would read the attached note.

_Hello Potter,_

_As it now seems an Owl-O-Gram works best to get your attention_, _I was hoping that my other activities of the past weeks wouldn't have gone unnoticed, but it seems that they have. It would please me greatly if you would remember those two actions and think about how you feel about_ _them. And then, if you have come to a conclusion, I would like to hear it as well. Why don't you write me a note, if you would want to, and give it to Ms. Granger? I run into her often enough and will find a way to get your note. After that, if you wish to write, we can agree on an owl or a letter-dropping-point. But, I'd much rather just meet with you in person and tell you face to face how I feel._

_Dreaming of you,_

_Your no longer_ _so secret admirer._

_P.S. Get a bloody clue! _

Clearly Potter had finished reading the letter, because he turned beet-red, grabbed his bag and fled from the Hall. Draco couldn't help himself and had a very satisfied smile plastered on his face. Suddenly he felt someone looking at him. Glancing up, he saw Prof. Snape's eyes on him. Draco gave him a very broad smile, winked and nodded. Snape rolled his eyes and swept from the Hall.

* * *

1 As sung by Donna Summer

* * *

Please Read & Review!

Feedback is appreciated, Flames are not. If you haven't got anything useful to say, please don't bother…

Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat – 


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note**: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!

* * *

**Chapter 8**

As the mail came right after breakfast, the note and the envelope with the Owl-O-Gram were burning in Harry's pocket all day long. If somebody had come to him and asked which classes he had attended that day he couldn't have answered correctly. It was momentarily wiped from his memory. Because all the space was taken up by the beautiful, meaningful song and the note that came with it.

Harry seemed to be living in a daze. All the professors tried very hard to get his attention and, although he got a lot of warnings, luckily for Gryffindor he didn't receive any detentions. He lost a few points, though. To be honest, not all professors noticed how distracted Harry was. Professor Binns certainly hadn't noticed that Harry was not paying any attention, not even for one minute. But then almost all of his other students were sleeping or whispering to each other and he didn't see that either.

As if he was on auto pilot, Harry got through the day to dinner and left so fast after it that his housemates hadn't seen which direction he had taken. Harry knew he had to get away. He made a stop to get his invisibility cloak and then continued his quest for some peace and quiet. He had to go the Owlery, to Hedwig. Because when in doubt he always could rely on Hedwig. She always tried to find a way to cheer him up and, more importantly, she almost always succeeded.

Harry had secretly hoped that Draco was the culprit behind the Owl-O-Grams and now that he knew for sure, the last note had made Harry's insides do a somersault. If he hadn't already had a crush on Draco before, he sure did now. But what would he say in a note to Draco? He wanted to tell him i so /i much, but Harry couldn't possibly write him a Hermione length parchment. Well, not yet anyway. Harry sighed, realizing he couldn't even ask his owl-pal for advice, since Harry would then have to break the news that he liked another guy.

He walked silently to the Owlery. Hedwig immediately flew from the perch she had been sitting on high in the tower and joined him on the window sill. She hooted softly and gently nipped his earlobe.

"Hi Hedwig. You're looking well." Harry pet his owl while he talked to her. "I had a letter from HIM. Isn't it amazing? You know I've been thinking about him a lot lately. I can't believe he feels the same!"

Hedwig hooted.

"Okay, okay. If you say so. But still, he is i so /i gorgeous and I am so not."

Hedwig hooted again, but louder this time.

"So you think I'm gorgeous too, eh?" Harry softly stroked his owl under her chin. If owls could purr, then Hedwig would have been heard doing that. "Thanks. Anyway, he wrote me…twice, actually. But the first time I didn't really know he was behind it. It was i so /i romantic, Hedwig. Draco sent me this lovely song. In the second letter, he told me it was him, Well, he didn't sign it, but the message was very clear, and it had another song. The lyrics made it more obvious who sent it, but he also asked me to write him back, but now I don't know what to say to him."

Hedwig hooted softly and nipped his fingers.

"Yes I know. That's why I came here. I thought that you could maybe give me a helping hand, erm, talon?"

Hedwig looked at him and puffed through her beak making the feathers on her breast stand out more proudly and while doing so she looked bigger and more important.

Harry smiled at the antics of his familiar. He picked some owl treats out of his pockets and fed them to Hedwig. She devoured them in a flash and, like a kitten, bumped her head under his chin and rubbed a little. Harry felt warm inside. Even if Draco didn't feel the same about him, he always had his owl.

o Meanwhile in Gryffindor Tower o

Hermione and Ron were frantically searching for Harry in Gryffindor Tower. They couldn't find him there and so their quest was expanded to hallways, empty classrooms and such. They were worried because of the strange attitude of their friend throughout the day.

Of course their search caught the attention of a certain blond-haired Slytherin seventh year. That Slytherin was very curious to know what those two Gryffindors were on about, but he didn't want to spoil his fun and so he kept himself hidden in the shadows. But as the search seemingly went on and on, he did start to worry a bit. It became clear that they were looking for Potter, and that Harry wasn't easily found.

Soon other Gryffindors noticed that Ron and Hermione were searching for something, or someone.

"They are probably playing the where-is-our-best-friend-and-saviour-of-the-wizarding-world-Harry-Potter-game, don't you think?" Seamus asked Dean and Neville.

Both nodded. They thought that Seamus' deduction was spot on. They tried to catch the attention of Ron and Hermione because they too wanted to be a part of that game. But Ron and Hermione thought they could do it much better by themselves. So Seamus, Dean and Neville followed the progression from the sidelines with interest.

"Since they won't let us search, I suggest we make ourselves useful in another way." Seamus said.

"How?" Neville wanted to know, who by now was getting a bit dizzy from watching Hermione run through the Common Room.

"Why don't we help them by keeping score of where they've searched already?" Dean said, a smile on his face.

"Very good love!" Seamus said, beaming at him. Dean looked down, sure that his blush was visible to those who sat at the other end of the room.

With a swish of his wand, Seamus conjured up a flip-chart and some feltpens. When Hermione came by, Neville decided that now was as good a time as any.

"Hermione, where have you just been?"

She was in such a rush, that he barely caught her saying "-nomy Tower." He looked expectantly at Seamus. Who nodded.

"Very good, Nev. Astronomy Tower is on." They shared a smile and decided that this way of playing the game wasn't so bad.

Meanwhile Ron and Hermione were going through the castle like they had a colony of Billiwigs on their tail and were desperately trying to stay ahead.

They discovered Seamus, Dean and Neville's help and would check in from time to time to tell them where they'd been and to ask for suggestions of where else to look. Dean and Seamus had decided that a good show deserved something to nibble on and had conjured a large bowl of popcorn, which they generously shared with Neville. They were quite enjoying the show, despite their own worries about Harry's whereabouts.

o Meanwhile in the Owlery o

Harry had finally written a note to Draco, though, of course, he didn't refer to him by name in the note. It had been difficult, hence the assortment of crumpled pieces of parchment scattered around him. He had had much help from Hedwig, but thought it was a pity that he couldn't use Hedwig to deliver it. She would be recognized immediately and he didn't want to risk that yet. So he explained it to her and although she looked a bit put out, she did make sure to get across that she understood his reasons.

He read the note one more time, to be sure that it finally had everything in it he wanted to say to the blond Slytherin at the moment.

_I Malfoy,_

_So it was you who sent me the Owl-O-Grams and the notes. I've heard the rumours about you, too. Is it true that you started them? Whatever for? I think maybe we need to talk about all of this_.

_How about Thursday night at eight o'clock in the Astronomy Tower? Or if you have a better place in mind, please let me know. If I don't hear from you I'll assume you agree. _

_Harry_

_PS Is it true that Professor Snape fainted after hearing about the rumours? /I _

Yes, he thought, that's it. Now I can send it. He knew that Malfoy had mentioned that he could use Hermione as a possible messenger, but he thought a school owl to be much safer. It was one thing to talk with Draco but to talk with the friends who had forgotten about him all summer was an entirely different matter.

With the help of Hedwig, he chose a nice brown owl who was sitting on a perch with a bronze plaque attached to it that said "Hector". Harry asked Hector to deliver the note in Draco's room in the Slytherin part of the Castle. The owl nipped his finger in confirmation and flew to its destination.

After the owl had flown off, he finished his conversation with Hedwig. He left the Owlery feeling much, much better. When he came round the bend of the path that would lead to the Quiddtich pitch, he saw Ron there, looking under seats, obviously searching for something. Or someone, he thought. He slipped his invisibility cloak on and walked carefully to the pitch. He managed to find a seat at a safe distance from Ron, but near enough to hear him muttering to himself.

"Can't imagine where else he could've gotten to,…he usually comes here to think…well, he did last year…could he have a different spot now…I haven't talked to him all that much yet…"

Harry tried not to make a sound and he felt a bit smug. So they hadn't found out about the Owlery. He once again silently thanked Dumbledore for passing his father's cloak on to him, and waited for Ron to start walking towards the castle. Harry followed him, trying to determine where he would go next. As Ron neared the steps leading up to the main entrance, Harry saw Hermione dashing out.

"Ron! There you are," she said, breathless from all the running she'd been doing. "Where have you been?"

"Quidditch pitch," Ron said, defeat sounding in his voice. "Between us we must have been through the castle twice, and still no sign of him. It's like he's avoiding us, 'Mione."

You have no idea, Harry thought to himself.

"What makes you think that?" Hermione asked him.

"Well, let's look at the past couple of weeks, okay? How often have we actually talked to him? How much time has he spent time in the Common Room? An easy answer, Hermione. Not as often as other years. Something's wrong." Ron crossed his armes over his chest, certain that he had it right.

"Nonsense!" Hermione refused to admit defeat. "He's probably just wandering through the castle." Ron looked at her like he hoped that the answer to Harry's whereabouts would just drop from the air. Hermione's face lit up. "Maybe he's visiting with Dobby!"

Another shared glance and they ran off, undoubtedly in search of Dobby. When they were well of out of range, Harry snickered and entered the castle. When he had found a secluded hallway, he took off the cloak and used a shrinking spell so that he could stuff it in his pocket. He then made his way casually to the portrait. Before he could give the password, the Fat Lady said to him "Finally! There you are! Those friends of yours have been making me almost crazy today! Going in and out! Haven't had time to have a decent cup of tea!"

"I'm sorry," Harry said and smiled at her. "I didn't know that they were looking for me, you see. Can I go in now, please?"

Now she smiled at him. "Such a polite boy you are! Password?"

"Chuckling Chimaera," he said with a chuckle of his own.

The portrait opened and when he stepped through, he was welcomed by a sight he had never seen before, not even when Fred and George had still attended Hogwarts.

The Common Room had been subjected to a transformation. Most of the furniture had been placed in a u-shape, all facing Seamus' flip-chart. Harry was almost run over when a third-year fell through the portrait-hole and yelled at Dean "No show at the broom shed!". He stayed where he was, on the ground, trying to catch his breath. Dean scribbled the information on the chart and looked at Seamus.

"Right!" Seamus said, sounding excited, "Anybody have any other ideas of where he might be?"

"Doesn't Harry still train with Snape?" A sixth-year asked.

Before Seamus, Dean or Neville could answer, two fourth-year students ran out of the room, clearly heading for Snape's classroom in the Dungeons, ignorant of the fact that they hadn't been using the classroom for that anymore. Harry decided that for now, his spot in one of the shadowed corners was a very nice place to be. He heard the portrait open again, and asked himself who would enter this time.

Ginny Weasley stepped in and almost walked into him. She stopped right on time and was now shielding Harry from the rest of the room. Harry had been spending some time with her, but because Ron and Hermione would almost always show up, he'd been careful with that. He was sorry about it, too. He and Ginny had always gotten along well, but it had been even better when she'd started to secretly date Justin Finch-Fletchly and Harry'd helped her out with the cloak a few times, so that Ron wouldn't notice.

It didn't come as a surprise that Neville spotted her right away. "Ginny, any news?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "No, but-" She was interrupted when the portrait opened again.

This time Ron and Hermione fell through.

"And?" Dean asked them.

They shook their heads.

"Where were you?" Seamus asked them.

"We were talking to Dobby." Ron explained. "We thought Harry might've gone to talk to him, but Dobby said that he hasn't seen him all day."

Neville decided that Ginny should finish her sentence. "Ginny?" All eyes were now on him. "Ginny, what were you saying before Ron and Hermione came in?"

"Oh, well. I wanted to say that maybe we've been missing some spots that would be too obvious to us, to think that he might be there."

"Like…?" Ron prompted.

They all looked so lost that Harry decided that he wanted some fun as well.

"Like the Common Room?" He said, raising his voice to make sure everyone heard him.

Ginny screamed at hearing his voice right behind her and swayed on her feet.

"Hi!" He said and smiled, deciding that playing innocent was always a good start. Although the looks of some of his peers told him that they saw right through that act and that he still had a lot of explaining to do.

Meanwhile, Hector, the owl Harry had sent off with his note, was on his way to Draco Malfoy's room. He had been given simple instructions, and was happy to have gotten the job. Hector had liked the wizard who'd asked him to deliver this letter. The owl had very much liked the way that the boy had treated Hedwig, and the way wizards and witches treat their familiars told a lot about that person. Well, that was what one of the older owls had told him, when he'd been taken on as a school owl at Hogwarts. So he did his best to deliver the message as fast as he could, even though the wizard hadn't asked him to.

When Hector neared the room, a lot of sound came from it. It scared him a bit, but he decided that if he wanted to be good at his job, he'd have to learn to ignore it. He entered the room and saw that it was occupied by three people: two wizards and one witch. Hector was very thankful for the wizard who had gone on and on to Hedwig about this Draco Malfoy and his beautiful platinum blond hair. That way he knew who to approach. Hector landed near him on a desk and held out his talon so that the wizard could reach the letter easily. He secretly rejoiced when he was given some owl treats and was even offered some water. As he flew out, he decided to tell Hedwig about it, because then she could tell her wizard.

* * *

Please Read & Review!

Feedback is appreciated, Flames are not. If you haven't got anything useful to say, please don't bother…

Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat – 


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note**: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Receiving Potter's owl had been a surprise to Draco. He honestly hadn't thought Harry would write to him. Especially not when Draco had seen the Gryffindors go into a frenzy when they couldn't find Harry. He'd told Blaise and Pansy about it, and they were very curious as to whether or not they'd be able to find out what had actually happened. The note wasn't exactly what he'd imagined it to be, although he had to admit to himself he hadn't really thought about what it would be.

However, he intended to keep the appointment, because wasn't that exactly what he'd been aiming for? The time remaining until Thursday, eight o'clock, Draco spent telling himself that he wasn't nervous. But he was. Terribly so. What if he'd gone through all this trouble only to have Potter tell him that he didn't want him?

Finally it was time to go, and Draco checked himself once more in the mirror. Happy with the way he looked, he made his way to the Astronomy Tower, all the while careful not to get caught.

When he walked in, he found Harry already there, staring out of one of the windows.

"Hello, Potter." Okay, he thought, that was nice and neutral and suitable for any conversation Potter wanted to have.

Harry slowly turned around and looked at him. "Hello Malfoy."

He pushed his nervous hands back into the pockets of the jeans he was wearing. When they had stood there for a while, just staring at each other, Draco decided that he might as well start the conversation.

"So, you wanted to talk to me, Potter? Go ahead then," he said trying not to snap because he was so nervous.

Potter stood there, just looking at him. "Would you mind if I asked you some questions first?"

"No, go ahead. But it might be a better plan if we sat down."

Draco transfigured two old chairs into something more comfortable and sat down in one of them, followed by Harry. Harry took a deep breath and tried to still his hands. Draco was glad to see he wasn't the only one with nerves about this.

"Right. I suppose the first thing I'd like to know is why you sent me the Owl-O-Grams." He looked expectantly at Draco, who was looking down and avoiding Harry's eyes.

"To tell you how I felt, basically. When I declined the Mark, I'd been doing a lot of thinking and re-evaluating. Having my father in Azkaban made that a whole lot easier. That's why I stopped insulting you and your friends so much last year. This summer I realized that I actually missed you. Not that we've spent a lot of time together, of course, but being able to say something to you without it having to be insulting. It took me a long time to realize that I have feelings for you."

"What kind of feelings?" Harry sounded…well, not suspicious.

Draco sighed deeply. He had hoped that Harry would figure it out for himself, but that wasn't happening.

"I'm in love with you, Pot- Harry," he said softly, dragging a hand through his hair and so making his hair come out of its ponytail.

Silence.

When Draco had the nerve to look up, he saw Harry look at him with big surprised eyes.

"Harry?"

Slowly Harry snapped out of it.

"You're in love. With me..." he said as if testing the words out.

Draco nodded, waiting for the explosion to begin. "How do you know?"

Draco blinked. He hadn't seen that one coming. He'd expected Harry to laugh at him, tell him he was straight and to get over it. That, apparently, wasn't in the scenario.

"Well…like I said, it took me a long time. At first I was amazed that you seemed to catch on that I wasn't simply Lucius' pawn anymore, you know, that I was trying to start figuring things out for myself. That we were able to talk for five minutes without wands being drawn."

Harry nodded and smiled.

"After a while, when it became clear that I wasn't going to relapse, we were able to have a bit of a conversation. A decent conversation I mean. But I could sense you were still expecting something to happen. Then, at the end of last year, at King's Cross, you came to say goodbye and wish me a nice summer, do you remember?"

Again Harry nodded, listening intently.

"That was most unexpected. And all the way home I had this warm feeling inside. I thought it would go away the longer I stayed at the Manor. But it didn't. The longer I was there, the more I was thinking about you. How nice it was to talk to you. How I liked it when you'd smile at me. How your hand had felt in mine when you said goodbye that day. How I wanted to hold you and never let you go."

Harry was baffled, "Erm, right."

"Next question?" Draco asked him, trying to get past the awkward moment.

"Erm…" Harry was still working on the 'never letting go' part of Draco's statement.

"And the rumours people say you've spread?"

"Did I really spread them? Or are they true?"

"Both."

"Yes, obviously, to the second question, but also to the first. You weren't very open in showing how you felt about that first Owl-O-Gram, Harry, and I thought that maybe if I spread the rumours it would help." Draco did feel slightly embarrassed, having admitted to them.

Harry had started to pace the room.

"The thing is, Malfoy, I'm not buying it," he stated.

"You're not buying what, that I started the rumours or that I did, in fact, send you those Owl-O-Grams?

"That you're in love with me."

That took Draco by surprise. "That's the part you don't believe? Why?"

Harry swallowed, "Because I am not a person people love. Oh sure, they like to read the gossip in the papers, especially with some juicy photos, and they like me so that I stay happy and eventually will take on Voldemort, but that's about it."

Draco was stunned. Harry sounded so sure of what he was saying. "But, you were with someone before!" He shook his head.

Harry just shook his head. "That was a mistake, on more levels than one."

"Share it with me?" Draco asked him.

"Well, there was the fact that she mainly adored the attention she was getting because she was dating the famous Harry Potter." He was sneering now, "She didn't have an ounce of interest in me only in how much attention _she_ was getting."

"What was the other level?" Draco now asked, certain that there was more to it than just that.

"I don't think I do well with girls," Harry stated.

Now Draco started to smile and walked over to Harry. "Do you think you'd do better with a bloke, Harry?"

Harry looked into his grey eyes and gulped. Draco could clearly see it. "I might, but I don't know."

"You didn't have a boyfriend before?"

"No," Harry shook his head. Did he sound disappointed?

"Would you like one?" Draco's heart was pounding in his throat.

Harry sighed in defeat, "What's the point? When he finds out that I am not like all the papers and magazines make me out to be, he'll just leave. Like everyone leaves, even-" He abruptly ended his sentence.

"So you don't want to be my boyfriend. That's okay, Harry, really."

Draco was slowly making his way to the door, ready to dash to his own room and have a sulking and pouting fit there. Harry remained silent.

But just as Draco turned the doorknob to open it, he heard Harry's soft voice say, "Don't go, please?"

Draco turned around. "What is it?"

"It's not you, Draco," Harry sighed.

"Is it the fact that I'm a Slytherin? I'd love to get resorted for you Harry, only I don't think the other Houses would be very happy to have me."

"No! No, it's not your House. I could care less which House my boyfriend would be from! It's…" Harry took a moment to gather his thoughts. "It's just that I don't think I'd believe it from anyone. I wouldn't believe it from Terry Boot and I wouldn't even believe it from Bill Weasley for that matter."

Draco was distracted for a minute. "Bill Weasley is gay?"

He then quickly turned his thoughts back to the problem at hand.

"So, if you aren't having any problems with me being from Slytherin, and you are gay… would you mind terribly spending more time with me? So I can show you that I mean it? Of course, you would be on and in even more papers and magazines than before, seeing who you'd be spending your time with."

Harry looked at Draco for a while, "You really mean it don't you?"

Draco nodded, "So you will?"

"Yes, I will." And Harry gave him a big bright smile.

"But, you do realize that there will be even more rumours about you once we start dating?" Draco felt like he really should point it all out to Harry.

Harry now shrugged his shoulders, "There will always be rumours about me I suppose. But when rumours are based on something that is actually true, I don't mind so much. I couldn't really care less as long as they're about someone who likes me for me for once."

Now Draco's smile grew wider and wider. Tentatively, he came closer to where Harry was standing. "Do you mind if I give you a hug?"

Harry nervously shifted from foot to foot, answering, "No, I suppose that's okay."

Draco stepped closer approaching him like one might approach a scared animal. He slowly raised his arms, first stroking Harry's arms very softly. When he noticed Harry relaxing a bit, he slowly pulled Harry to him and wrapped him in a loose hug. Nuzzling Harry's neck he softly said, "You feel really good in my arms."

Harry shivered in Draco's arms.

"Is something wrong?" Draco asked worriedly.

He could barely hear Harry's whispered, "Nothing's wrong."

"Harry, I felt you shiver. There's obviously something wrong."

"No, really, there isn't. I just didn't expect to feel this." Harry was still whispering.

"Feel what?" Draco asked.

"Warm and safe." But even as Harry said that, Draco could feel Harry withdraw, fidgeting more and more.

Very slowly, Draco pulled his arms back but not before he gave Harry a soft squeeze.

"I really like it that you feel warm and safe in my arms, but I think that we have to practice a bit more to get you to feel very safe within my embrace. So I hope we get to practice a lot over the next couple of months."

"Months?" Harry asked softly.

"Well, you didn't think I would tire of having you in my arms so easily now did you?" Draco asked with a big smirk on his face.

Harry chuckled.

Draco felt giddy because he hadn't expected that Harry would react so lovingly to him and he didn't think it was exactly punishment to practice hugging for a few months.

Reluctantly they pulled back from one another, transfigured the chairs back to how they had been before and walked down the stairs from the Astronomy Tower. They intended to return to their dorms, but right before they separated, Draco turned to Harry and asked, "Why were Ron and Hermione running all about in such a frenzy this afternoon?"

"They were looking for me," Harry said simply.

"Hmmm. Yes, that's what I thought. But why couldn't they find you?"

* * *

Please Read & Review!

Feedback is appreciated, Flames are not. If you haven't got anything useful to say, please don't bother…

Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat – 


	10. Chapter 10

**How to find your true love**

**Chapter 10**

That night, whilst lying in bed Harry thought back over everything that had happened that day, especially meeting with Draco in the Astronomy Tower. He had always thought Draco good looking, but he had never imagined that he would be SO nice. Harry had hoped, but he always thought that everything he wished for would be ruined in some way. It was a nice surprise that nothing like that happened this time.

He had liked it a lot when Draco had softly hugged him, not too mention what Draco had said about having to practice that over the next months. Just thinking about it made him warm. He recalled the conversation they had had before they both went back to their Common Rooms.

_ "I want to ask you something: Why were Weasley and Granger searching about like seekers in a frenzy?"_

"_They were looking for me," Harry had answered._

"_Hmm. That's what I thought. But why couldn't they find you?"_

_Harry shrugged "I didn't want to be found. I was thinking about the note I wanted to send you and," another shrug, "I can't think when they are around. Besides, I don't think they would have liked me writing a note to you."_

"_Are you sure? I thought they're your best mates? You've been friends ever since you came here. Surely they'll understand when you tell them…"_

"_I'm not sure they feel that way. They want what's best for them, but I really don't think they want the same for me."_

"_Hmm. I'm not sure that you're right about that. Hermione's been very helpful to me."_

"_She was?" sudden feeling of resentment flared in Harry's chest at that: Why did she go to Draco and not to him? He had said it very softly, but Draco had heard him and answered. _

"_Maybe because you've been avoiding them and she was afraid you wouldn't listen? And, yes, she was. I wrote to both her and Ron. I wanted to apologise for being unkind to them. And I wanted to ask them to help me convince you that I was not out to hurt you; that I really do like you. Ron was hesitant, but Hermione's been giving me clues about what you like. I really do hope you're not mad at her for that."_

"_Well, I want to say that you're right but why didn't she, or Ron for that matter, write me over summer hols? They know what kind of a family life I have. So tell me: why? I didn't even get a note on my birthday. I don't care about the presents. I can do without them just fine. It's not like I'm used to them. But a little note would've been nice. And I have to think about what you said about Hermione giving you some clues to what I like. It's not that I think its bad I just have to get used to the idea, ok?"_

_Draco clearly didn't know what to say to that._

"_Look Draco. I'm sorry. I lashed out. I should'nt take this out on you."_

_Draco looked him over before he replied. "When you put it that way, I can understand a little bit why you need to be alone. But I think you should try and make Ron and Hermione understand, because without an explanation they never will. Or don't you want them to know how you feel?"_

"_I do. But I don't want to make it easy for them. They had each other during summer and I feel like I'm not important. I know they should get time and all to get to know each other better, but that doesn't mean that they have to forget about me, right?" Harry reluctantly admitted._

"_No, of course not. Look, maybe we should sleep on it and meet again tomorrow evening? So that we can plan how to make Ron and Hermione see how it's been for you, alright?"_

"_Why are you suddenly being so…so in favour of them? You don't even like them!" Harry asked._

"_No, I don't particularly like them. But I really, really like you." Draco gave him a pointed look and Harry blushed. "And I know, like everyone here does, that you three come kind of like a package deal. They make you happy, Harry. And besides, you're worth it! Now go to your dorm and we'll meet again tomorrow at the same time and place, okay?"  
_

That's how Harry came to find himself drifting off to sleep to pleasant dreams of Draco hugging and kissing him. Morning came too soon and he reluctantly got up. Realising that today didn't involve any shared classes with the Slytherins, he contemplated going back to bed, but knowing he wouldn't get away with it, he dragged himself to the showers, got dressed and made his way to the Great Hall to get some breakfast.

Ron and Hermione were already there and, as always had saved him a spot. They shot him curious glances, but the questions he'd expected didn't come. They started talking again, but Harry couldn't make head or tail of it. He wondered if it would be like this the whole year. He sighed, not liking that idea at all. Sometimes he just wanted to go back to the first few years at Hogwarts when they were still a close knit group of friends.

As he filled his goblet with pumpkin juice and lifted it to take a sip, his eyes wandered to the Slytherin table. When his eyes met silver-blue ones, he couldn't surpress a small smile. Even with the distance between them, he saw those eyes light up. Before he could even think of what to do next, he saw Blaise start to talk to Draco and he decided that he might as well start on his breakfast. For the first time he actually had a bit of an appetite.

Soon the mail came and Harry immediately recognised the black owl that landed next to his plate. It had been a while since he'd seen the owl and he did his best to pet the beautiful animal and fed it leftovers from his breakfast. The owl was picky. It didn't like the sticky pancakes, but almost fell over his wings to get some bacon. All caught up in petting the black owl, he missed the narrowing of a certain blond Slytherin's eyes. However, Hermione didn't and decided to try to talk about it with Harry after breakfast.

The fluttering of wings told her that the owl had left. When she turned her head, she found Harry had just opened his letter. She wondered who the owl was from. She didn't recognise it. Ron was curious as well, just like the other students at the Gryffindor table.

Meanwhile Harry was reading a letter from his owl-pal. He didn't notice the discomfort with which Draco was watching him.

_ "Dear Harry,_

_I haven't heard from you in ages! You know that I like receiving your letters so I was wondering if something is wrong. _

_I am really enjoying myself here in Greece. Everybody is very nice. But that could be because of our superb Quidditch Team. Tomorrow will be our first match with a Greek team. Of course we will beat them, since we have these harsh practices. The coach really gives us a hard time. I know we have to practice a lot to play in first league, but still he could give us some slack sometime. That would be nice._

_Man, if I knew then what I know now about Quidditch training now, I would have given much more severe practices when I was Quidditch Captain! I sure would have asked you to run some laps around the lake every day for starters. Well, I have to dash now. Practice…_

_Best wishes,_

_O._

_P.S. Is there any chance at all that you will change your mind and go on a date with me? I think we get some free days in a couple of weeks and I would love to see your brilliant green eyes again _

Harry smiled as he read this letter, but frowned when he read the post script. In his next letter, he really needed to make it clear that he didn't have any romantic feelings for his pen pal. He regretted that he hadn't had the courage to tell his owl-pal that he wasn't interested in a relationship with him earlier. What would he have to say to make him understand?

As he didn't look at the Slytherin table, or more specifically, Draco, he didn't notice the worried look on Draco's face. He stood up from the table and left to get his things ready for classes today and to think about what he would write in that letter to his owl-pal. Draco was not the only one interested in seeing Harry walking from the Great Hall. At the Gryffindor table Hermione followed the developments as well.

Blaise and Pansy hadn't missed Harry's receiving the letter either. Not because they were watching the Gryffindor table, but because of Draco's reaction to it. They had been happily chatting away, when Pansy heard Millicent say, "Oh look, at that beautiful black owl!" As one, they had turned their heads and had seen the owl land at Potter's plate. A Potter who seemed to know the owl almost as well as his own and was feeding it his breakfast. And the owl certainly knew it was allowed to eat from Potter's plate as it was stealing bacon whenever it could.

Blaise had asked Draco, "Did you send him a letter then?"

"No." From the tone of Draco's voice not only was clear that Draco hadn't but also that he wasn't too happy with this development. The three of them then watched Potter open the letter and saw a smile form around his lips. Later they saw the smile fade and the frown start.

Draco by then was muttering under his breath about needing to explain the principles of dating a Malfoy. They repeatedly heard him mutter, "Malfoys do not share."

So, Pansy and Blaise had started giving him a bit of a pep talk: "Really Draco, how do you know that Harry's letter has anything wrong about it? It could just be that overly suspicious mind of yours," Pansy said to Draco.

"He smiled. And not a little or a hesitant smile, oh no! He was bloody glowing! Now you tell me how the hell am I going to read that? Other than that he's gotten a bloody love letter?"

"You really are exagerating. It could be a letter from a relative or one of his mates," Pansy tried again.

"Besides, you're meeting him tonight. Just ask him," Blaise suggested.

"Are you mad? I can't ask him!"

"Why not? It will certainly tell you more than this irritating game of

what ifs we've been listening to for over an hour now," said an annoyed Blaise.

"Prat!"

"Git!"

"Ponce!"

"Blond!"

"Hey! Not fair!"

"Well, you can't deny it…. Ha! You are blond!"

"You're still a prat!"

Pansy silently congratulated Blaise for getting Draco out of his state, but sighed when the two began calling each other names like five year olds might.

"You still have to ask him directly about the letter, Draco. That's the only way to know for sure that you've got nothing to worry about," Pansy intervened in the childish war.

Draco sighed, visibly deflating, "I know. But it'll be difficult to do that without sounding like an overly jealous-" He was interrupted by a snort.

Blaise chuckled, "You _are_ jealous! Just ask him who the letter is from and tell him that you like the owl. I'm sure he'll tell you."

"Hmmm." With a frown on his face Draco left the Hall to retrieve his bag and start his day.

He too was watched by two brown eyes and a brain whose gears were already running on high speed.


	11. Chapter 11

Finally a new chapter!

Unfortunately it's taken way longer than we thought to get the chapter out.

Thank you to all of you who reviewed!

**Disclaimer**:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note**: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!

**

* * *

Chapter 11**

Draco's mood never reached the heights of the start of breakfast. He'd been fuming to Blaise and Pansy every opportunity and it had gotten so bad that Pansy had cornered Hermione after their Ancient Runes class.

"Granger, can I have a word?" She'd asked, in a serious tone.

"Sure," Hermione packed her bag and met Pansy at the door. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Breakfast," was all Pansy said, keeping her eyes on Hermione, who caught on fast enough.

"I take it Draco saw the owl and the letter?"

Pansy nodded, "He's in denial, but he's very jealous!"

Hermione smiled, "Good!"

"So, do you know who the letter came from?"

"Well, before this summer I would have known, but since the start of term Harry hasn't been talking to Ron and me. At least not like he used to."

"So, before this summer had the owlalready been carrying post from the same sender?" Pansy asked after thinking over Hermione's answer

Hermione thought about it, "Now that you mention it, I have seen it before. But not on a regular basis, if you understand? I know I've seen the owl more than once before, but that was only when the mail came during breakfast. I'll ask Ron if it has ever come to the dormitory."

"And if it is that particular owl? Whose is it then?" Pansy pressed on.

"As far as I know, it's from a good friend of Harry's." Hermione answered slowly, not sure if she should tell Pansy any more. She felt that it was Harry's job to tell Draco who the letter was from and not hers. "Look Pansy, it's not that I don't want to tell you, but Harry has this thing with his privacy. I really feel that he should tell Draco who the letter is from and that Draco shouldn't have to find out this way…I will ask Ron when I see him next, all right?"

"All right," Pansy agreed, "And you're right; Draco shouldn't have to find out like this."

While talking, they had reached the Great Hall. After entering they split up and went to sit at their House tables.

Pansy's entering the Great Hall with Hermione Granger didn't go unnoticed over at the Slytherin table. But since Draco wasn't going to ask, Blaise did it instead.

"Pansy?" He asked her, as she filled her plate.

"Yes?"

"Why did it just seem like you and Granger have been friends for at least five years and not just got friendly since the start of term?"

"That's because I've just talked to her about a topic that we both have an interest in."

Blaise looked at her questioningly. "Which is…?"

"Breakfast," Pansy answered, before sipping her pumpkin juice. She then looked at Draco, who was stubbornly eating his lunch, but she knew that he was listening.

"What about it?" Blaise asked.

"Well, I asked her about that black owl we saw and if she knew who it belongs to. She thinks she knows, but she isn't sure."

"What do you mean, she isn't sure?" Blaise exclaimed. "They move in a pack for Merlin's sake!"

Pansy looked smug, "Apparently, the pack has had a bit of a split. Something has happened this summer and now Potter isn't talking to them like he used to. She said she'll ask Weasley though."

Draco had been listening, just like Pansy had suspected. He highly appreciated his friend's concern and her actions. So what Harry had told him was true then; he and his mates hadn't talked all that often. Suddenly he recalled the night that he'd run into Harry outside the Owlery and the goofy smile that the Gryffindor had been wearing on his face. His proud, inner-Malfoy struggled with inner-Draco on the subject of whether or not to cave and ask Harry about the letter and the owl. Inner-Malfoy argued that Harry ought to tell him about it. Inner-Draco countered, stating that he should trust Harry to tell him himself. His inner struggle made him not look up and so he missed two green eyes searching for his.

Draco made it through afternoon lessons but he got progressively crankier. He made himself busy with his homework, deciding that that evening's meeting with Harry wouldn't leave any time to do it. He hoped that Pansy would hear from Granger before he went out, but when he saw her, she only shook her head. Bugger! both inner-Malfoy and inner-Draco piped up in his head. With a pathetic sigh to himself, he finished his Arithmancy homework and started on his D.A.D.A. essay that was due in three days. It would certainly keep him busy until it was time to go. When he came to a dead end, he decided to stop for a while, hoping that that would help him gather his thoughts on the essay.

As he looked around his room, his eyes fell on the latest issue of his magazine. He picked it up and started leafing through the pages. He almost automatically stopped on the page with the column.

**Have Patience** – _That great Bordeaux didn't mellow in a day. You built that fabulous wardrobe belt by belt. Your career took years of training and perseverance to evolve __into what it is now. And love, as the song says, don't come overnight. Even if you're a chronic overachiever, a speed demon on the job, and a type-Adriver on the freeway of love, you've got no choice but to observe the legal speed limit. So take a few deep breaths, and take it slow. Remember, you can't hurry love._

So far Harry had been very honest with him, Draco reasoned. He'd been fighting with this all day, trying to not jump to conclusions. Finally, after some deliberation and a deep sigh, he made his decision. He'd keep his date with Harry and if Harry didn't tell him, he'd ask.

Dinner came and he was able to get through it because Blaise and Pansy blocked his view of the Gryffindor table, engaging him in conversation. Due to them it was over fast enough that he could get ready.

When Draco reached the Astronomy Tower, he heard Harry pacing. He took a deep, calming breath and walked into the room, closing the door and putting up locking and silencing charms.

"Draco!" Harry smiled at him and awkwardly took a step forward. The smile did it; Draco had to hug him. This time, though, Harry hugged him right back. Not as tight as Draco would've liked, but he recognized the gesture for what it was.

Harry seemed…nervous, Draco thought. He was fidgety and couldn't sit still. Finally, it got on Draco's nerves.

"Want to tell me what's gotten you so that you can't seem to sit still?" He finally drawled.

Harry was startled out of his pacing, looking upat Draco with big, green eyes and fidgeting some more. Draco sighed.

"I want to, but don't know exactly how you'll react," Harry admitted, to Draco's surprise.

Draco gestured impatiently, "Well, we can start with you sitting down. Over here, for instance." And he pointed to the seat next to his. Harry nodded and plopped down.

"Harry, if you don't know how to say it, just blurt it out, all right? You're killing me with the suspense here." Draco dragged a hand through his hair.

Harry gulped and Draco could hear it.

"Okay," He then whispered, "This bloke I've been owling with for a couple of years now has just asked me out for the fourth or fifth time in a row, and I'm not sure how to handle that."

Draco wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or feel threatened. "And is he a good friend?" he softly asked Harry, who nodded in answer.

"Not that I've seen him much the last few years. He's a Quidditch player and travels all the time…."

Well, that partly explained it, Draco thought. Then another thought hit him. "Why did you tell me now?"

Harry blushed. "Well, after our talk yesterday I didn't want you to think I don't appreciate what you've told me, and also to let you know that I want to try this, even though I don't know how."

Now Draco was filled with a warm feeling. "Come over here, Harry," he said softly and held out his arms. Harry walked over and stood in front of Draco, not understanding. Draco pulled him, so that Harry was sitting in his lap and tucked Harry's head underneath his chin. At first Harry tensed up, but then relaxed against Draco.

"I don't want to pressure you, but if it was up to me I'd have you write him that you are very much taken. If that's going too fast for you, you can just tell him that you've just started dating and that you're sorry, but you only have friendly feelings for him." Involuntarily, his arms tightened around Harry, who shifted and burrowed closer into his arms. "And while we're on the subject of dating, Harry, the next Hogsmeade weekend is coming up and I'd like to spend it with you. What do you think?"

Big, shining green eyes were now looking at his face. "You mean that?"

Draco huffed. "Of course! I wouldn't ask it if I didn't, now would I?" He felt Harry's head nod and was tickled by his hair. Somehow, he wanted to make sure that Harry understood he meant it, so he pushed Harry back a bit. This way, he could lift his chin and make sure that he and Harry were eye to eye.

"Harry, I mean that okay? I hardly ever say these things unless I mean them," He pressed.

He saw green eyes fill with hope and start to shine, "Okay," Harry whispered, but didn't look away.

"So, Hogsmeade," Draco stated, deciding to go on and get this settled. "Do you want to meet me somewhere or should I pick you up?"

He felt Harry's body tense and now those green eyes showing apprehension. "You'd come to pick me up?" Harry sounded incredulous.

Draco nodded.

"At Gryffindor Tower?"

Draco nodded again, silently thinking that he couldn't think of another place to pick Harry up.

"Where everyone can see you?"

Draco nodded, sighing, "Harry, I would come to pick _you _up … To take _you _for our Hogsmeade date. Nobody else."

"You know that there won't be anywhere to hide? That everyone will be watching? They won't stop until… until…."

Draco felt Harry's body go rigid. "Well, we'll see about that. I'm here now and they'll have to deal with me, too. And we'll take care of it when we need to."

He felt the tension leave Harry's body, but not completely.

"We'll see," Harry whispered.

_TBC!_


End file.
